


Hello Mellow

by m_number24



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: AU, F/F, F/M, Famous Michael, M/M, Secret Identity, chloe brooke and jenna are pals w jere and chrissy, dustin's a bully, highschool, jere and chrissy are bffs, mikey rich and jake are in a band, random idea
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-29
Updated: 2019-01-05
Packaged: 2019-01-06 21:36:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 24,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12219408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/m_number24/pseuds/m_number24
Summary: Jeremy's favorite band just announced they would go on a break.Also, there's this new kid in school.





	1. well hello

**Author's Note:**

> probs will edit shit later i'm going to study for my exams in a few but this idea's been playing in my head over and over and i just i really wanted to type it out. so i dont have a concrete plot yet
> 
> my brain's tired it's 12 am i'm sorry
> 
> warning: i didnt proofread so errors galore, i jus typed it out in one sitting, it's probably really scattered (magulo) rargh apologies in advanced, i jus rly wanted to get the idea off my head so that's that
> 
> update: wow people are great my heart is warm i'll do my best

When Jeremy got home, he couldn't believe his eyes as he stared at his laptop screen. He could feel tears forming on the corners of his eyes and he couldn't help the heaviness in his chest.

 

Hello Mellow, his all-time favorite band, was going on hiatus.

 

He clicked on the YouTube video titled, "HELLO MELLOW 82717 FINAL PERFORMANCE MSG" and it was a 4 minute 20 second clip of the lead singer, Mellow, telling his fans his thanks. His eyes were covered with his mask (all of them wore masks, it was kind of part of their band image) but you can read his expression with just how big his smile was. He let out a laugh as his fans cheered before dropping the news.

 

"So, we've been hinting throughout the past week that, well, we're taking a break." The crowd let out loud groans, to which the lead tried to comfort with a reassuring, "Heyyy, we'll come back, c'mon."

 

Jeremy wanted to cry though because everyone knew that breaks meant break-ups.

 

"Anyways, I'm here to tell you not to get mad at the members. And to answer all your questions, _no_ , we did not get into a fight. We’re actually doing this because," the man looked around, pretending to check the coast and Jeremy wanted to kick him so badly with how dorky he was, "I want to go back to school."

 

With that, the crowd was silenced.  

 

"As y'all know, my illegal ass just turned 18 and I'm delayed for high school. As nerdy as it sounds, I really, really want to graduate, ya know?" He started pacing the stage, "And like, Jakey-D and Richie here, already graduated so like, c’mon! Let me have my moment!” His fans had laughed at that and he joined them. Once the laughter died down, Mellow continued talking, “They're super supportive, by the way, which is hella cool! Let’s give it up to the coolest dudes I know."

 

He gave his two band mates individual bear hugs that made Jeremy's heart swell.

 

"I'm living the dream, I know, and I love it. So, I swear with all my heart that we're coming back, okay?"

 

And it cut there.

 

 

Jeremy stared for a few seconds before collapsing on his bed and letting out a loud screech.

 

He quickly grabbed his phone and dialled Christine. Once he heard the call click, he opened his mouth to let out another screech when Christine beat him to it. "HELLO MELLOW'S TAKING A BREAK, JEREMY, AND WE BOTH KNOW WHAT BREAKS REALLY ARE."

 

The male teen let himself screech in despair again. In a few minutes span, the two ended up just groaning about their beloved band and their decision but also about how precious Mellow was for wanting to continue schooling. Jeremy word vomited on how much he loved him even more because knowledge is SEXY and Christine started moaning on how much Jakey-D and Richie were such parents on supporting Mellow.

 

When the call ended, Jeremy let himself sigh. There’s nothing to do about it now. He opened his Hello Mellow folder, selected all the pictures which had totalled to about 216 (70% Mellow and 30% of Jakey-D and Richie) and deleted them all.

 

He paused and felt himself tear up.

 

He clicked on his Recycle Bin and restored all of them again.

 

He can still grieve for the rest of the week.

 

* * *

 

"Do you think Mellow would have a hard time adjusting, being famous and all?"

 

It was a thought that’s been going on in his head since last night. Christine sent him a thoughtful look before shrugging lightly, "It feels planned, if I'm being honest. They've never released anything personal about them. No one knows their real names, even. Plus the masks basically cover half their faces and they've actually kept wearing it for two years straight." She took a bite of her sandwich, "I think it's pretty smart and I also feel like he won't have that hard of a time hiding his identity considering it's been hidden all along!"

 

There was a few seconds of silence when Christine spoke up this time, "What do you think will happen to Jakey-D and Richie?"

 

Jeremy hummed, "They're probably gonna find a part-time job?" He paused. "Or! They're going to write new songs for their next album?"

 

It was silent again. Jeremy took a breath and was about to ask another question when he was cut off with a groan, "Please just shut up about Fellow Hello for 5 seconds, please." It was Jenna who was staring at them, bored.

 

"That was like, the 23rd Hello Mellow question, you guys, just change the topic," Chloe actually looked like she was dreading this. Jeremy and Christine flashed them guilty looks.

 

"Sorry, sorry. Just," Jeremy pouted.

 

"It's Hello Mellow, y'know? And now, they're gone." Christine looked at the table with sad eyes.

 

Chloe bit the inside of her cheek before letting out an exasperated sigh, "Ooookayyyyy, you can keep grieving about them." She pouted, "It's kinda like me and Brooke when 1D broke up so I get it."

 

That startled a laugh out of Jeremy, "Oh my god, you two were Directioners???"

 

With that, the group started laughing. Brooke started hitting Chloe and cussing at her for outing them which only made the others laugh harder.

Jenna was in the middle of singing "What Makes You Beautiful" to annoy the living shit out of Chloe even more when suddenly, there was a loud clang near their table, surprising the teens.

 

 

 

A few feet from the table, there stood a teen staring at his lunch, now splattered on the floor.

Obnoxious laughter followed the sudden silence and of course, Dustin Kropp and his pals just had to make a scene, "Jeez, watch it, loser."

Jeremy couldn't help the burst of anger that filled his chest at the sight of the kid getting pushed and laughed at by the bullies.  

 

"God, Dustin's a dick." It was Christine. She had whispered it harshly. Jeremy agreed.

The teen, to Jeremy’s surprise, didn't look fazed, though. He was expecting him to run away or hide, because that would have been something Jeremy had done. Or anyone, for that case. _Weird._

Jeremy watched the kid closely. He was wearing a red hoodie covered with patches, and headphones hung by his neck. He had dark brown hair and tanned skin and— Jeremy blinked to himself and did a double-take. The kid was smiling.

_The kid was smiling?!_

The tanned teen slowly wore his headphones. Then, out of nowhere, bent down and flipped his lunch tray over. His food was all mixed and Jeremy cringed at how gross spaghetti and bread looked mashed together. Beside the tray, the teen suddenly picked up his squished yogurt cup, checked the inside then nodded to himself.

 

Jeremy felt Christine suddenly grip at his sleeve.

 

 

_No way._

 

 

The headphones kid stood up, walked his way to Dustin Kropp and poured the remaining yogurt.

 

On. His. Head.

 

Everyone gasped. Jeremy wasn't kidding. Literally everyone gasped.

 

It didn't end there, though. He dropped the cup and ruffled the bully's hair, spreading the yogurt. The whole cafeteria was quiet.

 

Dustin? He was frozen in shock. Then, unsurprisingly, was furious.

 

Jeremy couldn't keep quiet anymore. He stood up and let out a loud, "Run!!!" His voice cracking in the middle of it.

 

What followed was manic laughter from the teen and in a blink, he was sprinting to the cafeteria's exit to which Dustin and his buds followed.

 

 

It was still quiet.

 

Gradually, murmurs started to accumulate.

 

It was Jenna who broke the silence between Jeremy and his friends.

 

"Mad fucking respect."

 

Which, _true._

 

* * *

 

 

Next period was Chemistry. Their teacher entered the room with the headphones kid from lunch. Jeremy’s eyes had widened at that and he gave Christine a tap so she would shift her attention to the dude in front. Ms. Villegas gave the student a pat, as though to introduce himself. Headphones kid nodded.

Jeremy stared at him, prepared to hear this unusual kid’s name. If he were being honest, he was still pretty impressed from what happened a while ago— he even looked fine which would mean he probably outran Dustin Kropp’s gang. Christine, who was smiling beside him, seemed to be just as excited and curious as he was, so she had her back straight as she waited in anticipation.

 

Finally, the tanned teen gave the class a lazy smile, “Heyya." He did a small wave, "I’m Michael Mell. Cool meeting you all.”

 

 Jeremy's chest did a small flip upon hearing Michael's voice. He blinked.  _Weird._

 

 


	2. hell wello

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeremy Heere meets Michael Mell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO. so. i'm sorry if this turns out bad ily huhu

Jeremy looked at Christine, confused. Was he the only one who felt that?

He tapped her again, biting the inside of his cheek, “Does he sound familiar to you?”

Christine tore her gaze from the new student and faced him, matching his confused look, “Um, no? Are you okay, Jeremy?” He shrugged. He’s probably just hearing things. It was weird, nonetheless.

Jeremy looked around and found everyone murmuring. He wasn’t that surprised. This kid had just retaliated against Kropp’s shit, and the teen couldn’t help the “mad respect” – as Jenna stated – that rose in his chest whenever it replayed in his head.

 

_“Holy shit, it’s that yogurt kid.”_

_“He’s a new student? That takes a lot of balls”_

_“Dumb though, now Dustin’s going to fuck him up even more.”_

_“Social suicide on the first day.”_

 

The lanky teen frowned at the string of whispers.  It was nice some people actually found the kid cool but also sad that others found it dumb to go against their bully. He sighed to himself. _High school’s shit._

At that, he ignored the unusual feeling in his chest and continued listening to his teacher. She was in the middle of recapping today’s experiment to Michael when she suddenly faced the class again, squinting at the back part of the class, specifically, to where Jeremy, Christine and Jenna sat. She pointed at them.

“Jeremy Heere? I know you guys are a trio there, but since the class is an even number again, would it be okay if you paired up with Mr. Mell for this semester?”

What.

Jeremy gaped and quickly turned to Christine with pleading eyes. The girl let out a giggle and playfully hit him, “You dork, say yes. I’m going to be here with Jenna. Besides, it’s not like you’re going to sit anywhere else, he’s going to sit beside you.”

Jeremy’s never _not_ been  partners with Christine, which was why he had to swallow down the any feeling of anxiety before answering his teacher with a soft, “Okay.”

 

The murmurs only got louder somehow as Michael walked his way to the aisle and towards the seat beside Jeremy.

Everyone’s eyes were on Michael Mell and again, Jeremy wasn’t surprised because this time, as he got closer, he finally got to actually _look_ at him properly and Michael Mell?

 

Michael Mell was something.

 

He was smiling widely, and he even had a skip to his step as he walked towards Jeremy. He was taller than he seemed from a while ago, and he carried himself lazily but it didn’t look sloppy at all. He looked really chill, Jeremy didn’t know if he wanted to be like him or just stare.

Probably stare.

 

His hair was a mess, but it looked really soft. His face also seemed really clear; there wasn’t a trace of acne. And Christ, he had piercings. Jeremy blinked to himself again.

Right now, he was caught up with his eyes. They were a dark shade of brown but it seemed really bright with how he smiled with it. He was one of those people that smiled with his eyes, it was pretty cute. Jeremy wondered if it were against the sun, it would turn out lighter—

“Jeremy!”

Jeremy sputtered and turned towards Christine’s voice, “Wh-What?!”

She pointed at Michael.

Michael who was right in front of him.

Michael who was staring at him expectantly.

Oh my god, has he just been staring this whole time?

The teen felt his whole face warm up and he abruptly stood up, moving his chair nearer Christine’s so Michael could have more space on his side, “O-Oh god, I’m sorry, here. Y-You sit here, man.”

Michael Mell, bless his soul, merely shrugged and let out a happy, “aw cool, thanks!” as he sat beside Jeremy.

 

In a few minutes, the lecture started and Jeremy’s embarrassment finally died down. Everyone was listening to Ms. Villegas and Jeremy was relieved at that, hoping it would keep up for the whole period. He also hoped time would go faster because he really wasn’t used to having someone beside him that wasn’t his friend. He was hyper-aware that Michael was writing notes beside him and he honestly didn’t know how to act.

Would he mind if Jeremy did most of his habits? He usually lightly drummed his fingers on the desk but now he had one hand gripping a pen and the other on his lap. He was also unsure if Michael would be bothered with him moving or jiggling his leg. He sighed to himself. As nice as Michael seemed, Jeremy still felt conscious of getting judged. Plus, Michael Mell seemed like he would fit with the cool kids more with how he stood up against Kropp. That’s some high-ass confidence right there and Jeremy would never, _ever_ reach that.

In the middle of the teacher’s discussion on the electron configuration, he found Christine writing notes for him on the side of her notebook.

 

 _you ok?_  

 

He nodded and shrugged lightly.

_you’re off_

 

He shook his head and pouted as if to say he was not.

_are you scared of michael?_

He shook his head again and let out a light chuckle. He took his pen and wrote back to her.

 

_mb. he’s too cool for me. cool people are scary._

Christine let out a giggle.

 

_ure a dweeb. he seems nice tho tell me if he bothers u ok? >:(_

He was about to write back when he felt a poke on his side. He turned to find a very confused-looking Michael. Jeremy saw him let out a shaky breath and he stared at him with squinted eyes. That scared Jeremy a lot.

“Okay, man. Just,” the tanned teen’s cheeks were a tinted pink and he said this with such a low voice, Jeremy’s nervousness began to rise. Michael suddenly let out an embarrassed cough, “D-Don’t judge me but, what the fuck’s the Aufbau Principle?” Jeremy blinked. That was unexpected.

“O-Oh.”

“Y-Yeah. Okay,” Michael leaned closer to his space, “It’s just, I missed three months of lessons, dude. So I’m probably going to ask you a lot of questions?” he was whispering really fast then leaned in even closer, “And oh my god, you’re going to tell me if I annoy you with how dumb they sound, okay?”

Jeremy was shocked. He was too shocked about the word-vomit that their distance hadn’t even occurred to him until he could feel Michael’s breath by his cheek. Jeremy pulled back a bit. He opened his mouth to respond but as he watched the other boy fidget even more, he couldn’t help but let out a giggle.

Michael looked even more embarrassed at that. His face was getting redder as he pulled back, giving each other ample space again. He even pulled up his hoodie, tugging at its strings so it would tighten and cover up the sides his face, making Jeremy let out another choked laugh.

_Oh my god._

Michael Mell just word-vomited at him. Also, as of right now, Michael Mell looked like an absolute dork. Jeremy covered his mouth to keep himself from laughing again. All his stress about Michael judging him just lifted from his chest because what kind of guy would intentionally make himself look like a cocoon.

“Aw c’mon, man. Don’t be a bully.” Michael pouted but his eyes expressed otherwise. He also seemed like he wanted to laugh, “Do you want yogurt on your head too? Is this school just filled with bullies who want to torment me?”

Jeremy shook his head and he could feel his cheeks straining with how he couldn’t wipe away his smile, “No, no. You’re...”

Michael sent him a joking, challenging look, “Yeah? I’m what, huh, punk?”

The pale teen let out a huff, “Oh my god, you’re so lame.”

 

The new student let out a dramatic gasp, clutching at his chest. He was about to say something when the teacher called for his attention.

 

“Mr. Mell! Would you like to share anything with the class?”

 

Michael Mell, with his hood still tucked on his head, faced the woman with wide eyes. As he got over the startle, he grinned at her widely and he shook his head enthusiastically. Jeremy couldn’t believe how easily this boy was handling his teacher embarrassing him. Was he that confident or was he just so dense that he didn’t notice that snark in his teacher’s tone?

“I was just asking about the Aufbau Principle, ma’am, nothing to see here!” He gave her a salute, making the whole class laugh.

Ms. Villegas looked exasperated at that and merely continued the lesson.

 

Michael removed his hood and gave Jeremy a peace sign, before placing all his attention back to the woman in front. Then with that, it was quiet again.

 

Beside him, he noticed Christine had written a new note for him.

 

_u seem comfy there_

That had startled Jeremy because, _huh_ , he was pretty comfortable with Michael throughout that whole exchange and that’s saying a lot considering how he was with strangers. He shrugged himself and wrote back a reply.

 

_hes nice_

Christine nudged him with her elbow and wiggled her eyebrows at him. Jeremy retaliated with a gentle push. The two smiled each other and decided they should seriously listen to the lesson as well.

 

When the bell rang, Michael was gone in a blink, without a word. Jeremy tried not to feel too bad about not being able to say goodbye, it’s not like they’re automatically friends just because they’ve joked around a bit.

 

* * *

 

 

“He’s such a dweeb???”

“I know right???”

“He actually said ‘punk’?”

“He did!”

“We’re going to be friends with him, Jeremy. We’re going to be good friends.”

 

Jeremy laughed at that, “Where’d that come from?”

Christine laughed along, “No, I swear!”

She leaned close to Jeremy, “He made you laugh in less than a minute and that’s really rare for you. Plus! You even called him lame and you don’t usually have the guts to call people that. Any person that can make Jeremy Heere comfy will be a friend of mine!”

The boy smiled at that, his chest feeling all sorts of gooey. He bumped shoulders with her as they walked to their next class.

 

The next class was World History and Jeremy was not a fan. The teacher was a very old guy, hair all white and he probably had trouble walking with how he limped through the classroom whenever he discussed. He was also so old, had trouble seeing people in the back, to which why Jeremy could use his phone and listen to his music at ease with his ear buds. The only albums saved as of right now were Hello Mellow’s and Jeremy swallowed down any sad feeling at the thought of the band.

He was able to go through a few hours without talking about them but now that they’re back in his head, he wanted to go and chat with Christine again about the following possibilities that could happen with the band. He gets it, okay? He’s a huge fanboy and people probably thought it was lame but this band meant a whole lot to him.

“Set Fire” by Hello Mellow played through the first few parts of the period, followed by, “Upgrade” then, “Hooked with Crystal Pepsi” until next thing Jeremy knew was Hello Mellow’s second album was back again to its first song.

Time passed quickly and the bell finally rang. It was time to go home.

 

* * *

 

“ _Oh, he set it, he set it, and he can’t help it, can’t help it...”_

 

Jeremy was lying down on his bed, his speakers were blasting really loudly that he almost missed his phone ringing. He grabbed his phone that was on his bedside table to find a text from Christine.

 

 **CHRISSY:** CHECK TWITTER?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

 **CHRISSY:** JEREMY HEERE CHECK UR TWITTER UR BOI TWEETED

 **CHRISSY:** JE  R E M Y

 

The teen stared at the messages, confused. His “boi”?

 

 **JEREMY:** MY BOI?

 **CHRISSY:** YES YOUR BOI

 **CHRISSY:** THEY'RE STILL ACTIVE ON TWITTER

 **CHRISSY:** THEYRE PROBS NOT GONNA HAVE A BREAK FR OL INTERACTIONS BUT

 **CHRISSY:** THAT'S NOT WHAT IM TRYING TO SHOW YOU JUST CHECK

 

Jeremy blinked at that and went to click his Twitter App. On the search bar, he typed out Mellow’s Twitter name which was “@wollemolleh” and clicked. His eyes widened at the most recent tweet.

 

                   @wollemolleh : met a pretty boy

 

He did a double-take at that.  He refreshed the page and it showed the exact same tweet. He swallowed, took several slow breaths, before letting out a laugh that had bubbled in his chest. He was smiling wide, and he could feel his heart beating non-stop at that.

 

 **JEREMY:** he finds boys pretty??????????????!!!!!!!!!!?!?!?!?

 **CHRISSY:** apparently he does????????????!!!!!!?!?!?!?!?

 

Jeremy started laughing giddily at that. Mellow, the lead vocalist of Hello Mellow, the most attractive guy Jeremy's ever seen (even with the mask), the guy that made Jeremy realize his love for Indie-Rock genre of music—

 

The guy that made him realize he was bisexual when he watched him in a few vlogs and behind-the-scene videos that made him feel strange, flippity-flops in his chest.

 

 **JEREMY:** is it weird that i'm super happy right now?

 **CHRISSY:** is it weird for you to be happy that one of your biggest role models/crushes may turn out to be as bent as u ? ? ? 

 **CHRISSY:** of course not, you silly boy!!!!!!!! 

 **CHRISSY:** BASK IN THE GAY

Jeremy kept laughing.

 

 **JEREMY:** i think i love him more now

 **CHRISSY:** me too

 

 

Tonight was a good night.

 

He closed his eyes and replayed his day. Michael Mell had somehow appeared in his head with that, making him open his eyes and stare at his ceiling. There was the yogurt experience and the Chemistry experience. He felt a tug at this chest at the memory. He hummed to himself and smiled. Today was a good day, too. He probably made a new friend.

 

His phone buzzed again and he checked it. It was a link from Christine, showing that Richie had replied to Mellow's tweet with a, "get the fuck back to studying stop complaining abt pretty blue eyes bih."

 

He didn't think he could smile any wider but there he was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> exams r over i fucking beat stat 101's ass 
> 
> prep for more mikey jere interactions next chap im sorry baout this tell me if it sucks all the love


	3. yell bello

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeremy and Michael are buds.
> 
> Hello Mellow writes weird songs.
> 
> Michael shifts from cool and chill to a nervous, awkward mess.
> 
> I wonder the fuck why.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's 4 am. have i done work? no. have i slept? no. then why am i writing? bc bitch i can. will i regret not sleeping? probably. did i edit this? no. but i promise to re-edit. will u guys hate me? damm i hope not. will i sleep after clicking 'post'? hell to the fucking ye

Jeremy took a bite of his cereal as he scrolled through his phone. So far, nothing exciting was happening. It was just a bunch of tweets from his friends and CNN because that's how he stayed updated, okay?

In a few, his father had went off to work and soon, he was on his way to the bus as well. He had his earphones on and he hummed along to the current song's hook. It was called, 'waka-waka', obviously by Hello Mellow, because what other band would it be.

Hello Mellow had the weirdest ways with their songs. Their lyrics ranged from the deepest shit you could ever hear, like 'Set Fire' which was about a boy who let drugs lead his life and the only way to stop it was to set everything on fire, to a song about someone getting excited over their Pac-Man ringtone.

Personally, 'waka-waka' was one of Jeremy's all-time favorites, considering it was such a light, feel good song. It was simple, jumpy and it always left him giddy.

He reached the stop and as though by timing, the bus had just arrived. He entered and went straight to where he and Christine usually sat, leaning on the window.

 

_"Oh, it goes waka-waka_

_Everything seemed more than okay_

_Because waka-waka_

_Is the best the way to start the day!"_

 

He admitted they weren't the best lyrics but it was such a happy song, the feel it oozes was actually contagious. Also, Mellow wrote it.

 

_"My heart goes waka-waka for you."_

 

The song had replayed again and through the intro, Christine had sat beside him. He greeted her a good morning and flashed a smile to which she returned. She leaned close to him before starting with, "You're listening to 'waka-waka' again, aren't you?"

He grinned wider. He found that she was wearing her earphones as well, "You're listening to 'The Popular One' again, aren't you?" He said this with the same tone she had.

 

At that, she gave him a look as if to say, "touché" before she let out a chuckle. 'The Popular One' was about a popular guy dreading being popular. Jakey-D was the one who wrote it and it was rare for him to write (Richie and Mellow wrote most of the songs) so Christine had considered it a gem.

 

The two were quiet for a moment before bursting into laughter.

 

"Oh my god."

"I can see it, Jeremy."

"Christine, no."

"Five years. HM still won't be back but we'd still be listening."

"Stop."

"Hello Mellow 'till we die."

 

Jeremy laughed loudly at that and pulled off his earphones. "You make it sound so creepy!"

She flailed a bit, "HELLO MELLOW!"

He proceeded to cover her mouth as to avoid disturbing anyone in the bus but it probably was uselesss considering the two ended up cackling loudly, either way.

 

 

* * *

 

 

At school, they were greeted with Jenna, waiting by their lockers.

"You guys? I heard the wildest news?"

She looked around before leaning closer, "So I heard from Madeline who heard from Emma who heard from Becky that Dustin Kropp got his dad to go to the fucking principal and report on Michael Mell for pouring yogurt on him."

 

Jeremy's chest sunk at that.

 

"What the fuck?"

 

Christine seemed aghast, by the look on her face, "He started it, though? Now he's playing victim?"

Jenna nodded, distaste clear in her face. "I know, right?"

 

"But, get this. Hoodie kid didn't bring either of his parents. He just went to the office by himself. I think they're having the meeting right now."

 

The three slowly turned their heads towards the room at the end of the hall.

Jeremy shuddered at the thought of how much Michael's morning must be going. He felt really bad about the shit that's getting dumped on him.

Man, and it was only his second day of class.

 

"Poor guy. He was really cool, though. Served Dustin right!" Christine had crossed her arms and let out a huff. Jeremy and Jenna had nodded at that.

Chloe and Brooke had appeared out of nowhere, greeting the other teens with a curious, "Oh shit, are we talking about that Mell kid?" from Chloe and a, "Kropp's a dick!" from Brooke.

 

The group was about to delve into the topic again when out of nowhere, a loud shout resounded through the hall.

 

_"What do you mean he's off the hook?!"_

 

The principal's door had opened, revealing none other than Michael Mell, looking calm and as though nothing had happened. The hall was quiet as he walked. That was becoming a thing now when it comes to Michael, Jeremy had noticed.

Screaming kept coming from the room. The voice, very obvious, was Dustin Kropp, and he sounded outraged. The door to the room wasn't fully closed, which basically gave everyone in the hall enough access to the conversation.

 

_"Son, he proved his case."_

_"No, he didn't!"_

_"He did. That boy did his research well and has every reason to report to authorities--_ _"_

_"That was bullshit, that wasn't true!"_

_"Language!"_

 

The door clicked again, making the screams muffled.

Jeremy stared at the door, wide-eyed, and he was sure he wasn't the only one. He blinked to himself and turned to his friends who also looked like they were in shock. Brooke broke the silence with a, "Huh" to which the whole gang had nodded to.

It was silent for a few more moments when Jeremy felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to find dark brown eyes staring at him. Also, he felt his heart rate pick up in less than a second and he had sputtered out a loud, " _holy shit, what the fuck, oh my god_."

Because those eyes belonged to Michael Mell. Michael Mell who had just tapped him. Michael Mell who was staring at him, amused.

 

"Hell of a greeting there."

 

Jeremy felt his face warm at that, "Y-You appeared out of nowhere!"

He looked back at his friends for back up but he was met with amused looks as well. Though they also seemed like they were surprised at Michael's presence, they probably found Jeremy making a shit out of himself funny because their best response were shrugs.

 

"Wow, thanks."

 

Michael had laughed at that, making Jeremy turn his attention back to him. Christ, the boy laughed with his whole body, it was contagious. Jeremy could feel the corners of his mouth lifting and he also couldn't help the burst of giggles the bubbled through his chest.

"First of all, I was literally walking towards you but you guys," Michael shrugged, head tilting towards Jeremy's gang, "were too busy watching Kropp break down."

Guilty. Everyone was guilty.

Easily, he drew closer to the group, standing beside Jeremy. He smiled at the group and gave a small wave, "Hi there, I'm Michael Mell."

Jeremy watched the new student shake his friends’ hands one by one as they introduced themselves in return. It was such a formal looking meeting but Michael kept making side comments after each name.

 

“Ah yes, how’s it rollin’, Rolan?”

“I thought I liked you but I don’t think I do anymore.”

 

“ _Chloe Valentine?_ You’re basically every videogame villain name, what the fuck?”

“I’m taking that as a compliment, Mell.”

 

“You’re, like, the second Brooke I know. The last Brooke I knew was from when I was 9 years old.”

“I’m… honored?”

 

“My fellow Asian, we’re going to be best of friends.”

“Oh my god, that’s what I was going to say!”

 

The lanky teen watched the exchange with a dopey smile. Everyone was getting along really well and it was nice to watch his friends laughing. It wasn’t until a couple of questions dropped in his head that his smile had disappeared from his face.

Number one was, how in the world was Michael Mell doing that? He approached Jeremy so easily and got to befriend his whole group in a few minutes span. He was now probably staring at Michael in disbelief at how he’s handling everything really well. Was he really a new student? Were new students supposed to be this cool? There wasn’t any trace of awkwardness and Jeremy honestly thought he should be jealous but the feeling was overpowered with awe and confusion.

Which brought up question number two: why in the world did Michael Mell approach _him_ of all people?  From the principal’s office, he claimed to have walked straight to Jeremy? That did not happen every day. No one willingly walked up to Jeremy unless they were his friends or they needed something from him. With that, anxiety once again filled the pits of his stomach. Did Michael need anything from him? He gulped quietly to himself. Did he do anything?

His interaction from yesterday suddenly popped in his head. They were getting along well yesterday, though. Unless Michael took offense from Jeremy calling him lame. Oh man, this was why Jeremy should always watch hi—

 

“Earth to Jeremy!” The teen blinked to find Christine staring at him, worried.

 

“You spaced out, staring at Michael. Are you okay?” she was rubbing at his back at that. He nodded his head and gave his friend a small smile, “Y-Yeah, I was just thinking.”

 

“Thinking about what?” And of course that was Michael Mell who suddenly shifted his attention from Brooke to Jeremy. There was soft tug at his stomach at the way the tanned teen had flashed a concerned look at his way. Jeremy felt his face flush when the hoodied kid moved closer to his space.

The pale teen scratched the back of his neck, letting out a nervous laugh. Well, here goes nothing. All his questions could be answered if he asked, right? Maybe he could give what the new student wanted right away. He hoped it wasn’t homework though. He was already struggling with his shit, he’d feel too bad for dragging another student down with him.

“I-I was just w-wondering why you approached me?”

Michael blinked at him, “Oh, well. I mean, we’re buds now, aren’t we?”

Jeremy nodded, waiting for the next few lines but it never came. It was his turn to blink at him, confused.

The other teen talked again, slowly, this time. It was as though Jeremy was a child and it was a concept he was trying to make him understand, “We’re buddies now. Buds approach other buds. For bud reasons. My bud reason was that I wanted to go to class with you.” Then he ended with a warm smile, his cheeks turning a bit pink, like he was shy about admitting his bud reason. Jeremy felt his chest do this thing where it goes warm then it goes back to normal again in 0.5 seconds.

As he digested his words, he felt himself turn red this time, “O-Oh. Y-You want to go to class with me?”

At that, the bell rang.

 

The gang had jumped at the sudden ring, and started saying their goodbyes as they walked to their respective classrooms. _Oh yeah_ , they all had different classes for the first two periods. Most of their classes together were in the afternoon, Jeremy had forgotten that.

Jeremy, as he watched all his friends walk away, noticed that Michael was still standing beside him. He gave Jeremy a small smile and a light shrug, as if to ask if they should go and the lanky teen had been stunned at that. “Y-You’re taking Advanced Algebra?”

Michael grinned at him widely, “Hell yeah. I mean, I’m shit with Chemistry but I love Math, man. Give me them Math and I will kick their ass.”

Jeremy let out an amused huff at that, before another question had popped in his head, “How’d you know I was taking Advanced Algebra as well?”

Fits of coughs were the response.

Michael’s face had turned to a shade of pink that got Jeremy surprised. For the next few seconds, Michael seemed like he couldn’t explain properly and resorted to word vomiting. “So um, basically, I asked for the needed classes? Because I needed to fix up my schedule and update and see which of my subjects are credited? So I talked to the counselors and admission. Which was great by the way, this school has got some ace facilities and staff,” He nervously did the okay sign with one hand, “And well, I was pretty advanced in math in my former school which was why I was allowed to take Advanced Algebra and I asked if I had any from the same batch and they said Jeremy Heere!”

He flailed a bit, doing this arm gesture Jeremy couldn’t exactly encode, “AND HEY! Wasn’t that a coincidence ‘cause _you’re_ Jeremy Heere and you’re basically my first friend in this school? I mean, the only other person I’ve talked to was Kropp and that doesn’t count because he’s my first bully so I kinda asked if there were any other classes you had that I needed to take and if it was okay to match with yours because I’m pretty comfy with you, man, I don’t really know how to go about shit alone, plus, you’re really nice.”

 

There was a few seconds of silence that must’ve made Michael even more nervous with how tense his shoulder seemed. Jeremy couldn’t help but stare much longer though because this was the same boy that had just beat the shit out of Kropp’s report, and joked around with all his friends. It’s like he was a different person when he was with Jeremy. He was much lamer and natural. He also seemed more honest, which was a very comforting thing somehow.

The silence must have taken really long because Michael had spoken again, looking like a mix of worried and embarrassed, “Oh man, you probably think I’m, like, seriously creepy, man. I swear I’m not?”

His tone made the pale teen laugh, “You seem like you’re not sure about that, should I be worried?”

He was joking around and even that shocked him. It felt like the proper time though and Jeremy was already pretty comfortable with Michael. All the worry already drained out of him the moment Michael let out a bunch of nervous words.

Him joking probably helped out a lot for Michael’s end, considering how he suddenly relaxed. He let out a chuckle, “Oh man, c’mon, you stopped speaking for a while. You scared the shit out of me.” He was scratching the back of his head as he let out a huff at Jeremy’s responding laugh.

Jeremy stared at him with a small smile. Michael Mell seemed really cool but here he was, a nervous mess, and if Jeremy was being honest, it was endearing. He blinked to himself at that thought and shook his head. Endearing in a way where he wasn’t the only mess. Did that make sense? He’s going to let that slide and say that made perfect sense.

After a few minutes, the two had noticed they were the only ones left in the hall.

They made a run to their first class.

 

 

Hanging with Michael in classes he didn’t have his friends with was a new experience. One, Michael made small side comments. He huffed out weird little, ah’s and oh’s, as well as soft curses when he didn’t get anything. He leaned into Jeremy’s space a lot too whenever he would ask a question or suggest to compare answers, and by the end of each period, Jeremy had somehow gotten used to the warm shoulder pressed against his.

 

When Math and English periods have ended, the two were walking their way to the next class, which was Economics. Brooke and Chloe will be there this time.

They were talking about video games, most especially Apocalypse of the Damned, because it was rare for Jeremy to find someone who was a fan of that game. Thank the gods, their professor had asked them one by one about their favorite videogames as an introduction for some sci-fi book they were going to discuss.

As they were walking, Michael’s phone had rung to which he asked Jeremy if he could answer. Jeremy had responded with a quick, “Yeah, of course!” and prepared his earphones so he could listen to his jams again. It was unusual for him, if he were being honest, that he’s wearing his earphones only now. With him not being classmates with Christine, Brooke, Chloe and Jenna for the first few subjects, he usually just listened to music and waited until he was in the same class as them.

He clicked “Play” on his phone and it continued to where it left off in “waka-waka” from this morning. He smiled to himself because it was part of the song where Mellow had just listed off a bunch of Pac-Man puns. Shit like, “DOTS amazing” and “BE MY PLAYER TWO” and “This polynom-nom-nomial says you’re the x, making you the 1” and they were so cringe-worthy, the band had to make a public apology for its release.

 

             “I may have been under the influence of something writing tha—“

             “He was h—“

             “ _Influence of something_. Richie, you shit, just play the fuck along.”

 

Jakey-D had to take control of that interview, if he remembered correctly.

 

He was in the middle of humming the chorus when he noticed Michael was done talking on his phone and was staring at Jeremy with wide, stunned eyes. Jeremy had to take his earphones off at that, giving him a concerned look. “You okay, man?”

Michael was still staring at him, wide-eyed. Slowly, he nodded his head and cleared his throat. His face was somehow flushed; to which Jeremy only felt more concern for. Soon, the boy finally spoke, his voice hushed and cracking.

“I-Is that ‘waka-waka’?”

 

_HOLY SHIT._

 

With a wide smile, Jeremy nodded enthusiastically. He recognized the song which would only mean he listened to Hello Mellow. This was the rarest, best thing that’s ever happened to Jeremy today. He basically just found the person whose interests almost match all of Jeremy’s from Math, to video games and now, Hello Mellow?!

Giddy, Jeremy faced Michael, bouncing on his heels, “D-Do you listen to them? Are you a fan???”

The kid, whose face only got redder, nodded slightly at Jeremy, “Sorta? I mean, I think? I listen to them a lot? I’ve…” he coughed, “I’ve been to their concerts?”

The pale teen’s jaw slackened at that, “You’ve watched them live???” He gripped at Michael’s arm excitedly, “A-Are you serious? Th-That’s amazing? Me and Christine weren’t able to book tickets. Th-That’s so cool!”

The other teen merely let out a nervous laugh. He was looking at Jeremy, slightly terrified. This made Jeremy pull back abruptly because _personal space, man, you’re scaring him_. At that, the teen had returned the nervous laugh and apologized for his sudden excitement.

“S-Sorry, it’s just rare, you know? Not a lot know about Hello Mellow in this high school? It’s just so cool that you know them as well. I really love them, y’know? Been following them since they blew up.”

Michael had blinked at that, blushing even more. Jeremy was pretty confused with how red Michael was. Was he uncomfortable talking about bands?

Jeremy was going to suggest to change topics in the middle of their walk when Michael finally spoke up again, “No, no. It’s nice!!! Liking Hello Mellow is nice! I know all their songs just. I just wasn’t expecting people to listen to ‘waka-waka’ of all things.” He was wearing a confused smile, “I mean, M-Mellow wrote that high, it’s got the shittiest lyrics out of all the songs in the second album, man. There’s fucking, ‘Upgrade’ and ‘Set Fire’ and ‘Mountain Dew Red’ or ‘Hooked with Crystal Pepsi’ There’s even, ‘The Popular One’ like that’s the shit, dude??? And you’re right there, listening to ‘waka-waka’.”

He was word-vomiting again. _Weird_. But priority numero uno was to answer Michael’s comment because _did he just insult his baby?!_

Jeremy puffed his chest and crossed his arms, faking offense, “I’ll have you know, ‘waka-waka’ is my favorite! It’s got the weirdest, sweetest, most unusual lyrics to a love song ever! Anyone who asks me to be their Player Two can take me!”

Michael had let out a surprised laugh at that, “You’re shitting with me.”

Jeremy shook his head, a smile tugging at his lips, “Nah, man! Mellow can take me.” He was full-blown smiling this time. It was nice being able to talk like this other than Christine. He was always more comfortable with talking about things he really liked. He stuttered less and he actually got to let out what he was feeling.

It was at that time he realized he really liked talking to Michael and he was pretty proud that he’s gotten close with someone at such a short amount of time. It was honestly unusual how calm and comfortable Jeremy was with Michael but it’s like they just clicked and everything seemed a-okay at that.

 Jeremy felt warm and excited with that thought, thinking that hey, maybe this year would be a much different year.

The other teen’s face got redder at what Jeremy said but his grin was wider, which seemed like a good sign. The two ended up laughing and talking about different songs until they reached their Economics classroom. Jeremy greeted Brooke and Chloe with the news that Michael was a fan of Hello Mellow to which the two fake-gagged at, but Jeremy knew they were totally fine with it.

In the middle of Chloe and Brooke jokingly insulting the other two’s love for Hello Mellow, Jeremy revealed their old obsession with One Direction, to which Michael couldn’t stop laughing at, and started singing songs from their first album.

 

Lunch turned out just as fun, with Christine and Jenna finding out that Michael was a fan.

Christine had hugged Michael tightly at that, to which Michael froze at and Jenna had to pull off Christine. They started talking about the members, to which Michael stuttered more so (Jeremy noticed) but all in all, everything turned out well.

Soon, they had to go to Chemistry and Michael had to leave by the time World History had started.

 

They never saw Michael after the last period. The gang concluded that he had went home straight.

Jeremy pouted to himself but shrugged. He reminded himself that tomorrow he would ask for Michael’s number so he could ask if he’d like to hang out with the gang once classes ended.

Before going straight home, Chloe had driven them to the nearest Pinkberry and Jeremy decided that today was a good day as well.

 

* * *

 

 

Jeremy went home to his dad cooking up dinner. He greeted him with a smile and had helped out in setting up the cutlery. His father wiggled his brows at him with how happy the teen seemed and Jeremy had to let out a laugh with how ridiculous it looked.

“Please don’t ever do that again, Dad,” He had said that in between giggles. His father shook his, letting out a chuckle himself, “Well, you seem like you’re in a good mood. Anything good happened today, kiddo?”

He had sat down on their seat and soon enough, the two have started eating and talking about their days.

 

“I sorta made a new friend? His name’s Michael and he’s really cool but like, awkward as well?”

 

His dad had grinned at that excitedly, telling his son that he was proud he was getting along with new people. He also told him that he would be totally fine with Michael staying over at the mention of having the same favorite video game and favorite band. He said that they could hang out and join along the singing in some Hello Mellow concerts like what he and Christine would do.

Jeremy sputtered at that and denied they ever did that.

 

* * *

 

That night, Jeremy was lying down on his bed again, eyes closed, and listening to ‘Upgrade’.

In the middle of the song, he let himself grab his phone and skim through his messages. Christine was flooding him with random pictures of cats, saying she found a Tumblr blog just filled with them and Jeremy chuckled because that was just precious. Jenna was asking him about the homework for Chemistry, to which he replied with “bring lab gown, bring gloves, experiment tomorrow :D”.

Chloe and Brooke were just messing around in their group chat, sending each other random BuzzFeed quizzes. Jeremy decided he might try some out later.

 

He was about to go back to just listening when he had a brief flashback of last night. He bit his lip and decided to click on his Twitter App, and typing out “@wollemolleh”. He checked the recent tweet. He blinked. Then, refreshed.

 

“…”

 

Jeremy’s chest filled with warmth in a span of few seconds and he let go of his phone, covering his face with his hands. After a few minutes, he grabbed a pillow at the side of his bed and covered his face, as he let out a loud, “MRREEHHH.” It was such a coincidence but it was such a _good_ coincidence. He was more happy than surprised, if he was being honest. If the universe was somehow connecting him and Mellow in these small ways then he was satisfied with that. He was all good. He was more than good.

 

He screeched again.

 

Once he was finished, he noticed he couldn’t wipe out the big smile on his face.

He copied the link to the Tweet and had sent it to Christine, typing out a “daglkdjghakdjmasj.”

 

 

            @wollemolleh: be my player two

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> u guys im gonna keep saying sorry abt this fic but u guys are great i hope u enjoy
> 
> a kudos or a comment would b cool if not then jus make sure to eat n sleep
> 
> i chill at humuhgod.tumblr.com sometimes


	4. bell fello

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael's good at Math and has a fever.
> 
> He gets along with Jere's friends.
> 
> He and Jeremy also get along pretty well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi there it's 2 am i'm sorry i always update u on my time  
> i wrote most of this during my commute this past week, i'm sorry, it's not much  
> lots of ppl are excited about the tweets and shit and like, none of that come out in this chap yet  
> hope y'all like this  
> i will edit it soon i promise after my math exam

Jeremy woke up to a bunch of messages from Christine. Half were about school, half were about Hello Mellow. Jeremy smiled to himself as he blinked away his drowsiness.

 **CHRISSY:** so guess who were up tweeting each other last night  
**CHRISSY:** R  & J UGH  
**CHRISSY:** like romeo  & juliet  
**CHRISSY:** minus the dying  
**CHRISSY:** i love jakey-d so much jeremy  
**CHRISSY:** but not in a I WANT TO BE HIS GF WAY  
**CHRISSY:** just in a i want to talk and take care of him kinda way  
**CHRISSY:** he's such a SWEETHEART!!!!!

The next few texts were notes from World History because Christine knew him well enough to assume that he wasn't listening in yesterday's lecture. And she was right. The world did not deserve Christine Canigula.

 **JEREMY:** YOURE THE SWEETHEART

Jeremy had saved up the notes and reminded himself to tutor Christine in Math because he owed her a lot.

He got up and and prepared.

As Jeremy ate breakfast, he let himself skim through Richie's Twitter to see what Christine was spazzing about. He typed out, "@richrichierich" and clicked on the first Tweet, revealing a thread between him and Jakey-D.

              @richrichierich : bored  
              @jaykeydee : go to sleep man its 3am  
              @richrichierich : buuut we jgh & my sleeepings fucked  
              @jaykeydee : damn dude same go here into the kitchen made u warm milk

The teen had to take a moment to let out a huff. It was such a wholesome exchange, his chest felt all gooey. He giggled to himself and typed out a, "ure right jakey is a sweetheart" to Christine's chat box.

Biting the inside of his cheek, he checked on Mellow's Twitter account this time to find that he had not tweeted. Jeremy hummed. He was probably busy now, considering the whole school thing and all. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips at that thought of his celebrity crush going through Math, and Chemistry or shit. It was such an unusual, yet endearing image.

His eyes landed on the tweet from last night though and his chest filled with warmth once more. A brief memory of Michael insulting the song flashed through his head and he was full blown grinning this time. He took a screen cap of the tweet and placed his phone in his pocket. He was going to brag about this to the new kid because HAH, I don't see your favorite song getting tweeted by Mellow himself!

He gulped down his OJ and was good to go. Time to start the day.

 

* * *

 

  
Jeremy tried not to pout as he looked around the hall. Jenna was talking about some chick that got caught beating up some dude that harassed her at the back of the 7-Eleven near the mall, and Jeremy's attention would be focused on her and he honestly would be laughing if only the uneasy feeling that was filling his chest would just disappear.

He shouldn't even be this bothered, now that he thought of it. It's been less than a week, he really shouldn't expect too much.

 

It was Chloe's voice that caught his attention. "Mell isn't here yet?"

 

At that, the gang looked around then shrugged when no one had spotted him. Christine gave a small smile and bumped her shoulder with his. In return, he smiled back. The bell rang in a few and Jeremy wore his earphones on his way to class.

Michael still wasn't there. Jeremy wasn’t sulking.

It wasn't unusual, per se. It's not like he and Michael were already attached by hip but cut him some slack for being excited. He never thought one day with someone could make a huge difference to his routine.

If he were being honest though, this morning hadn't turned out that well either. His teacher had given them a surprise quiz and Jeremy messed up copying the given, fucking up the whole solution. Also, his prof also seemed like she was in a super bad mood with how much she's been snapping at students for not reciting. It sucked and Jeremy really wasn't in the mood to deal.

He let out a sigh and continued copying what was written on the board. Ms. Dwight was right there, explaining shit about conjugates when out of nowhere, the classroom door squeaked.

Jeremy took no mind as he tried to solve the rational equation though, lazily writing down the conjugate of the denominator, when all of a sudden, his teacher's voice boomed out a sarcastic, "45 minutes late for class! That's a new record for my 4 years of teaching, Mr. Mell, and to think you’re a new student."

The pale teen almost got whip-lashed with how abrupt he had lifted his head.

By the door, there stood a very sleepy-looking, disheveled Michael Mell. He was rubbing at his eyes as the teacher went on and on about acting better and being punctual. The spectacled teen did nothing but nod lazily, as though he wasn’t listening. He actually probably wasn’t with how he was just looking around.

In the middle of Ms. Dwight’s rant, Michael’s gaze had met with Jeremy’s. Droopy eyes had brightened slightly as he acknowledged the other teen. Michael then tilted his head, as though to say hi, before flashing him a soft, sleepy smile.

Jeremy’s chest went haywire. It was warm and had started beating quickly. He did his best not to blush at the sight of the simple gesture but he was surely failing with how warm his face felt. It was so oddly sweet, having someone light up like that when they see you. Jeremy was suddenly super confused with the unusual feeling in his stomach and he forced to ignore it.

As he got his composure back, he smiled back, which only made the new student smiling wider.

It was nice.

Until his teacher snapped again.

“ _Are you even listening to me, young man?_ ”

Jeremy was sure the whole class jumped in surprise at her sudden screech. Well, everyone but Michael, who merely responded with a nod, and to think that line was aimed at him.

Jeremy stared at him in disbelief at how, like other situations, he was handling this very coolly. He didn’t seem as though he was freaked out or scared, but at the same time, he didn’t seem like he was mocking his teacher either. Each nod after that seemed sincere, and he even let out a firm, “I’m very sorry, ma’am,” and “It won’t ever happen again” but it was obvious Ms. Dwight wasn’t having it with the way she would roll her eyes at him.

Jeremy frowned and he couldn’t help but feel worried. The teacher suddenly erased everything on the board, writing out an equation, and then turned back to Michael with an eyebrow raised. She crossed her arms at him, “Well since you seem okay with skipping my class, why don’t you show the class how much you know.”

Now, that was just unfair. The equation on the board wasn’t even from what they were discussing. It was obviously something more advanced considering how Jeremy couldn’t exactly make out what to do. He looked around to find mixed expressions from his classmates. Some had stared at Michael in sympathy, the others didn’t care. Some seemed too scared to protest on how unfair she was being, the others seemed excited on how it would turn out.

Jeremy was part of the scared ones, and he despised it. He bit his lip in frustration because Michael was probably embarrassed or scared too? I mean, who wouldn’t be scared about getting embarrassed in front of his class. As a new student, at that!

The boy looked back front, eyes widening. He let his jaw hang at the sight. Michael apparently had moved from the door to the board when Jeremy was looking around the classroom. His back didn’t look tense at all as he smoothly wrote down his answers. The look on Ms. Dwight’s face said it all, with her expression turning from pissed to slightly embarrassed. Michael was probably answering it correctly.

The first thought Jeremy had was, _Was Math always this attractive?_

The second was, _What the fuck even is up with this boy?_

Michael Mell was no doubt, one of the biggest human plot twists Jeremy’s ever encountered in his life.

When he finished, he placed the chalk back down on the ledge, and turned to his teacher. Ms. Dwight was staring at the board, nodding to herself as she checked. She cleared her throat after a few minutes, she turned to face Michael. She opened her mouth and—

 

The bell rang.

 

The tense ambiance lifted in a matter of seconds and every student made their way towards the exit. Jeremy stayed in his seat as the classroom slowly got empty, leaving only Michael and Ms. Dwight talking in front. Jeremy watched him bring out a small pink paper that made the teacher gasp, her face flushing red. At that, she actually looked like she was sorry, gave Michael a pat, before letting him go.

When Michael had gone out, Jeremy followed, tugging him by his sleeve. The teen turned to face the other, blinking as though to focus on who had just caught his attention. As he realized who it was, Michael had smiled and once more, Jeremy shook out the weird stomach feelings he was getting.

“Dude, what happened?” was the first thing he let out, earning him an apologetic look from the tanned teen. Michael lifted the pink paper from a while ago which turned out to be a Nurse’s Pass.  
Jeremy blinked at it, concern flooding his system. He faced Michael with wide, worried eyes as he pressed the back of his hand on the taller teen’s forehead. _Holy shit._

“Y-You’re burning, dude!” Jeremy had sputtered, tugging Michael once more but towards where the Infirmary’s way. Each tug didn’t do much though, considering how Michael was still standing there, staring at Jeremy with an amused look.

Michael wiggled his brows at Jeremy, then flashed an ugly-ass wink, “Oh Jeremy, my dude-bro, I know,” adding a sad attempt of a hair flip but only looked ridiculous with how short his hair was. Jeremy had let go of Michael’s sleeve at that, bursting out into laughter because, what the fuck.

“That was horrible.” The pale teen had said this in between giggles, to which the other boy gasped dramatically at, clutching at his chest. It was sort of like when Jeremy had called him lame. “How dare you insult a sick person? Where are your manners, man? Etiquette and shit!”

Jeremy shook his head at that, lightly pushing the other, “H-How’d you even get sick, y-you were all fine yesterday. Wh-What in the world did you do last night? You’re living the wild life, aren’t you?” It was meant to be a light-hearted question, with a hint of teasing so Jeremy wasn’t expecting fits of coughs to be the response to it. Michael’s eyes had widened, as though what Jeremy said woke him up.

He let out a nervous laugh, which only made Jeremy raise a brow at him, before talking, “Nothing! I was doing nothing last night! I just got, um, tired? School is very hard?”

The way Michael had said it so awkwardly earned a chuckle from Jeremy though, “Y-Yeah.” He hummed to himself. It was, now that he thought of it. Michael’s first few days were living hell if Jeremy were in his shoes. With that, he faced Michael again, a question that’s been bugging him since a while ago, making its way out of his mouth.

“H-How do you do that, by the way? You’re always so chill when you handle shit a-and you’ve been through so much shit the past few days.”

It was silent for a few seconds, scaring Jeremy a bit. Michael was staring at him as though he wasn’t expecting that question, either. Was Jeremy that good at asking random questions? With how shocked Michael seemed every time he asked, he probably really was.

The hoodied teen dug his hand into his pockets, shrugging slightly before answering, “You get used to it, I guess. When…” he paused a bit, scrunching his nose, and continued, “When you deal with a lot of bullshit and drama, you learn how to handle it with the whole poker face, ya know?”

And that? Jeremy wasn’t expecting something that sad. He felt himself frown at the thought of Michael dealing with a shit ton of drama and bullshit. They were in high school for god’s sake. At such a young age, Michael was talking as though he’s been through a lot and that made Jeremy want to hug him super tightly.

Jeremy blinked.

Or like, bro-hug and pat him. Sorta.

 

The two started walking their way to their English class and Jeremy let himself stare at the teen beside him. Michael kept blinking and he had some intense bags under his eyes. He looked like he didn’t get any sleep last night. Whatever school work he was doing, it was probably really intense with the kid’s state. Thinking about it though, he had missed 3 month’s worth of work. He probably had a lot to follow through.

The walk was quiet but it wasn’t uncomfortable. It was nice being able to walk with someone Jeremy could act like this with. Michael Mell, for some odd reason, was just automatically someone Jeremy was comfortable with. It was super rare considering Jeremy knew he couldn’t get along with just anyone.

Michael had let out a long yawn when an idea had popped into Jeremy’s head.

“Wanna come over to my place after school tomorrow?”

And wow, he said that without a hint of awkwardness. Jeremy honestly wanted to give himself a high five. Michael turned to face him, stunned. The pale teen had let out a nervous laugh, “I-I mean, you look like you’re stressing and I don’t know. We could do homework but also chill afterwards? I have Apocalypse of the Damned a-and I can’t really get pass Level 9? Playing with someone would probably help? PLUS, it’s a Friday!” He was rambling but he couldn’t help it. Michael was being really quiet.

After a few more moments, Michael finally spoke up. He started with a low, “I get it…” which confused Jeremy. “You get it? Y-You get wha—“

“You’re only inviting me for my video game skills.”

What. What?

A laugh bubbled out of Jeremy’s chest, “What, no!”

“No, I get it, Jeremy, my good man.”

“N-No, you don’t.”

The two joked around until they reached the room. Before the lecture started, Michael grinned at him, “But for real, I’m down.”  
Which was pretty cool.

  
Michael sat with Jeremy’s gang at lunch, and it was amazing how everything was in place. Everyone was already joking around, talking about the weirdest shit. Brooke went in for a story about a girl in her class used the ‘my dog ate my homework’ excuse on the professor which got her into trouble. Jeremy talked about how cool Michael was in Math, to which the whole gang had applauded at.

The hype died down though and soon, everyone was just talking lightly about random rumors and gossips, when all of a sudden, Christine had let out a squeal at her phone.

She called out to Jeremy and Michael who quickly turned their attention towards the phone screen, revealing a YouTube video titled, “BMC Late Night: Hello Mellow”

“It’s the surprise band interview BMC was talking about!!! This was posted just two hours ago.”

BMC was a radio broadcasting entity Christine followed. Their content mostly consisted of interviewing indie bands, mainstream bands, and even starting solo artists. They have this program called the BMC Late Night where they would interview bands at exactly 12 midnight. The flow usually went from a serious talk to the bunch playing random-ass games. Jeremy vaguely remembered Christine mentioning them last week. She was a huge fan of the series.

 

On-screen, the members of Hello Mellow were wearing their signature masks. Next thing Jeremy knew was that he was sucked into the interview.

 

_“So, is the break a final thing? You won’t be touring for a while then?”_

 

Jakey-D was the first one who answered, pulling Mellow into a noogie.

 

_“Yeah, man. This shit right here wants to finish schooling—“_

_“Yeah, what a fucking nerd!”_

 

Rich was the one who followed Jake. All three members burst out into laughter after joking around though. They talked of how it was a long plan and they’ve actually been preparing for it for months already. The two older members took back the whole “nerd” joke and made a statement on how wanting to study isn’t something bad. They also explained how “nerd” was a nickname for Mellow since they were young and that they didn’t mean any harm with it, using it as a term of endearment, mostly.

After a few exchanges, the last question came before the game and Mellow finally spoke. (Not that Jeremy had been waiting or anything.)

 

_“What’s your favorite subject so far, man?”_

 

_“Oh shit, Math, man. Math all the way. Give me all them Math and I could seriously kick its ass.”_

 

Jeremy blinked to himself.

That sounded so familiar he just wasn’t sure how. He shook his head and continued watching. Mellow was going on and on about how school was the weirdest environment and that bullies existed, but he was coping well. Jeremy frowned at that, he couldn’t believe that Mellow’s already encountered bullies but was also glad that he wasn’t letting it get the way of him. Christ, he felt so proud for a stranger, he wasn’t sure if it was creepy or not.

In the middle of Mellow’s talk, behind him stood Richie and Jakey-D holding a bucket. Christine chuckled beside him, grinning widely.

“Looks like they’re playing WHAT WATER.”

Then out of nowhere, the two elder members poured down a bucket of ice water over Mellow’s head, earning a loud string of curses from the youngest member. Everyone on set could be heard laughing and soon enough, the speaker had announced that they were indeed, about to play WHAT WATER.

“Basically they answer a bunch of trivia, and if they get things wrong, they get poured down with water.”

On the corner of Jeremy’s eyes, he saw Michael shudder, but took no mind and nodded at Christine.

 

The video lasted for 10 minutes and ended with the band all soaking wet.

 

_“WE’RE HELLO MELLOW, HAVE A GREAT MIDNIGHT.”_

 

Mellow sneezed, then it cut.

 

Jeremy and Christine both let out dreamy sighs as they sat back down properly on their seats. Christine was the first one to moan out an, “I looooove Jakeeeey-D I want to be his friend, he’s an absolute sweetheart!”

The lanky teen followed by moaning out a, “Meeeelllooooowwww is the c-cutest, I-I want to be his friend too!” He heard Michael choke on his drink.

At that, Chloe, Jenna and Brooke giggled. Jeremy saw them turn to Michael who was staring at both him and Christine with a look that could be described as fond, even as he wiped his mouth.

  
“This is how it usually goes. These dweebs moaning about their loves,” Chloe tilted her head towards the two. Brooke nodded and leaned on the table, “Aren’t you a fan as well? You can moan with them, we won’t, like, judge you or anything.” She said this with an amused tone to which the gang had laughed at.

Michael sniffled then shrugged, “Nah, I get them. I am a super fan, I’m just not the moaning type,” He wiggled his brows at that, earning more giggles. His voice was hoarse and cracking. Basically, he sounded really sick so he took another sip at his juice box, and continued watching the moaning happen.

Out of nowhere though, Michael’s eyes widened and he suddenly sat straight. He faced Christine and Jeremy with an offended expression, “Wait, yo, hey! Why isn’t Richie getting any love? He’s basically the leader—slash—coolest member out there!”

Jenna spoke up, confused, “He’s the smallest one, right?”

Michael turned to her, “Yes!”

“Isn’t Mellow the leader with his name being in the band?”

Michael turned to Brooke this time, “N-No, man, it was Richie who formed it, they just thought it was funny to name it that. Sorta like an inside joke!”

“Isn’t he the troublemaker band member? He gets a lot of articles on beating up paparazzi?”

Now to Chloe, with an exasperated look on his face, “He was harassed, man, that was self-defense! We proved it in court and stuff! He had a scar!”

Then the talk of how Richie was the coolest went on.

 

Jeremy looked up, blinking to himself. He wondered if Michael noticed that he said, “we.” Did he mean fans? He looked at the whole gang who was arguing about the coolest member, even Christine joined in, fighting for Jakey-D. It seemed as though no one noticed though. He was probably one of those fans that did loads of research on the harassment cases of their idols. That was a thing, right?

“The sequence goes like this, my dudes. TOP 1 is RICHIE, TOP 2 is JAKEY-D, and TOP 3 is MELLOW, fo sho! No one can fight me on this,” and that was Jeremy’s cue to join in the conversation.

“Mellow’s the coolest, man! Richie’s probably second!”

And the argument went on.

 

The fight ended with the gang laughing. Chloe sent Michael a teasing look, “Not the moaning type, my ass, Mell. You’re basically Richie’s bitch!”  
Michael let out a surprised laugh at that, “Oh, you have no idea, Valentine. No fucking idea.”

Everyone was laughing again and soon enough, lunch had ended.

 

 

On the way to Chemistry, Christine had walked between Jeremy and Michael. They were talking about musicals this time and it was pretty cool how Michael had actually watched Hamilton live, JESUS. There were a few squeals of disbelief here and there but somehow, the topic shifted to Hello Mellow once more.

Christine gave out a giggle, “This is so cute guys, now we all have out specific favorite members.”

Jeremy returned the giggle and he also noticed that Michael merely smiled.

“So now we can bond over how in love we are with them.” The shortest teen squealed to herself, “I can be friend-in-love with Jakey-D, Michael could be bro-in-love with Richie,” she faced Jeremy with a smug look, “and you can be gay-in-love with Mellow,” then flailed, “and there won’t be any judgment— gosh, I love friendship.”

Jeremy turned to Michael, ready to tease him about being Richie’s bitch but he found Michael staring at him, his cheeks tinted pink. He was looking at Jeremy, somewhat sad and confused; the lanky teen felt a tug on his chest. Once their gazes met, the tanned teen had looked away though, masking whatever expression he had and let out a loud laugh, “This is gonna be coolest school year ever.”

 _Weird._ He was probably just seeing things.

They entered the Chemistry classroom and everything began quickly. They had an experiment that day and being Michael’s partner was one of the best, worst things Jeremy’s ever experienced. For one, Michael loved hands-on experiments. He and Jeremy were super productive but at the same time, Jeremy couldn’t stop laughing at all his side-comments which got their prof telling them to stay quiet.

 

_“Jeremy, this is one of the most morbid things I’ve ever done.”_

 

_“What did the gummy bear do to deserve this pain?”_

 

_“Holy shit, Jere, it’s stuck on the bottom of the test tub.”_

 

_“Jeremy, grab that, I’ll stick it in.”_

 

By the end of the period, Jeremy’s cheeks hurt like bitch but his chest felt light. They finished their experiment with flying colors, writing down really good data, too. The pale teen had learned a lot about the other, from his strong stand that gummy bears were inferior to sour gummy worms, to his fear of big fires when he accidentally set the Bunsen burners gas too high.

Jeremy doesn’t remember the last time he’d met anyone who could make him laugh that much. It was a nice feeling, especially considering the fact that Michael seemed like he was enjoying himself as well.

Jeremy and Michael went out of the room together while Jenna and Christine fixed up.

When Michael was about to go, Jeremy had grabbed his sleeve when he remembered one of his reminders to himself from yesterday.

“W-Wait, can I get your number? And you can have mine?”

The tanned teen turned to face him, eyes wide in surprise. In a few seconds though, his face melted into a warm smile, “Fuck yeah, dude.” He pulled out his phone from his jeans’ pockets and tapping onto the “New Contacts” option of his phone. Jeremy had done the same and at that, they exchanged.

Once finished, Michael was about to turn and go when Jeremy grabbed at his sleeve again, “O-Oh, w-wait, wait, wait, I have to show you something!”

He quickly clicked on his gallery and clicked on the photo he had screen capped this morning. He grinned widely at Michael as he handed his phone, “You insulted ‘waka-waka’ yesterday but HAH! I don’t see your celebrity crush tweeting your favorite song!”

Jeremy was honestly expecting a bit of teasing or a fight but what he got was a frozen Michael. A very frozen, very red Michael Mell. That got Jeremy all concerned again. He faced the teen, confused, “You okay, man?”

“YES!” Jeremy jumped back a bit in surprise. Michael quickly apologized for his abrupt answer, scratching the back of his neck. Before Jeremy could respond, Michael spoke up again. “I’m gonna— I’m off? Me— G-Going now. Good bye, Jeremy Heere, I will see you tomorrow!”

 

And Michael?

 

Michael Mell literally just ran off.

 

Jeremy blinked to himself, then reminded himself that Michael had a fever. Maybe it was the fever talking.

 

 

The day went on and ended.

 

* * *

 

  
Jeremy was playing ‘waka-waka’ yet again.

He let himself bop at the beat, humming as the guitar played. He was currently reading Oedipus Rex for tomorrow’s discussion for English. As he turned the page, his phone beeped. He grabbed his phone and checked up the notification to find a text from Christine. Just like that, Jeremy was quickly distracted.

The two ended up chatting about the most random things, from school to YouTube videos. Christine had sent him a link to some pimple popping cupcake when Jeremy had gotten another text.

A text from “The Coolest” which got Jeremy surprised. _Who the heck?_

 

 **THE COOLEST:** jeremy my buddy hows it hanging

 

Ah. Jeremy had an idea. He smiled.

 

 **JEREMY:** Who’s this?  
**THE COOLEST:** the coolest person you know, duh  
**JEREMY:** No, it’s not  
**JEREMY:** You know fully well who the coolest person is for me Michael  
**THE COOLEST:** exactly

 

Jeremy had huffed at that, amused.

 

 **JEREMY:** What does that even mean???  
**THE COOLEST:** NOTHIG N  
**THE COOLEST:** HAHAHA YO THO  
**THE COOLEST:** may I have the data from lab?  
**THE COOLEST:** ALSO WHAT’S UP

 

The pale teen let out a giggle as he typed out a response. Through the whole night, he chatted with Christine and Michael until he had to say good bye and go back to doing work.

Before he laid his phone down, he checked on his Twitter App for any updates and he bit at his cheek when he found out Mellow hadn’t tweeted, still. Richie and Jakey-D had been active but that should be understandable. He reminded himself that the vocalist was obviously busy. Was it weird that he kept checking? He hoped not. Maybe he’ll lessen this, considering the star was probably going to go online less.

Jeremy ran a hand through his hair and hummed. He felt slightly weirded out with how affected he felt so he swallowed down the feeling. If he kept this up, his intense, impossible crush on the guy might worsen and he honestly did not want that to happen considering it would take a miracle for him to actually get a chance with him, geez.

 

Out of nowhere, his phone beeped again. Jeremy tilted his head and tapped at his phone, checking the screen.

It was another text from Michael.

 

 **THE COOLEST:** oh by the way, i’m bringing food for our gaming sesh tomorrow!! see you then jerm

 

The teen let out a surprised laugh at that. _Jerm_. That was the weirdest nickname he’s ever received yet.

He responded with an unusual nickname for Michael as well, calling him, “Micah” to which the other boy responded with an, “Ah, unique, I like that.” Then texts kept coming.

He ended up chatting with Michael until 1 am, completely forgetting Oedipus. He told himself he could always cram reading the summary in Spark Notes, anyway. By the end of the night, Jeremy slept with a good mood, all thoughts of Mellow replaced with how weird Michael was and how he should fix up his room for when he comes over the next day.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y'all. prep for one-on-one mike jere next chap  
> lotsa u guys are suggesting things about the twitter thing on the comments so if u have suggestions that'd be cool
> 
> ALSO SOMEONE MADE ART WHAT A PRECIOUS
> 
> https://siradope.tumblr.com/post/166213641312/i-stumbled-upon-humuhgods-fanfic-hello-mellow


	5. fell cello

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael's still sick.
> 
> Chloe and Michael get along PRETTY well.
> 
> Jere and Mikey game sesh.
> 
> Oh yeah. Also, feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im late like really late college's been fucking me up no joke but you guys are so nice i'm sorry but here's ch 5 im genuinely super sorry if it sucks

Jeremy was about to bite into his bacon when he finally remembered to inform his dad about Michael coming over.

 

He started with a light, "Hey dad, a friend's coming over later, is that cool? We're probs going to shout a lot," and ended with an apologetic smile. It was true, though. Jeremy shouted a lot whenever he'd play Apocalypse of the Damned. Zombies do not fuck around, man.

 

His dad merely chuckled at what he said though. The teen had raised a brow at his dad before the man spoke up. "Jeremy, you know you don't have to ask if it's 'cool' or not whenever Chrissy comes over, right? She's basically my long, lost daughter!" He had taken a bite of his toast before continuing, "And you should know I don't judge you two for 'idol-crying' over the boys you like."

 

Jeremy felt his face get warm as he yelped out a, "Idol-crying??? Wh-What?! No!!!"

 

"Son, you know I don't have any problem about your boy crush on that boy band kid,"

 

"DAD."

 

"It's true! We already talked about you and liking boys, son. I support you, remember?"

 

The teen covered his face with his hands in embarrassment, "Oh god."

 

"And like I told you, love is love. No matter what your body parts are--"

 

"Oh sweet Jesus,"

 

"And if you want to kiss boys like how I used to kiss girls—"

 

Jeremy groaned, "Dad! Dad, I get it. I—" he let out an exasperated laugh, "That's not what I was going to say. I'm bringing a boy over, okay? Not Christine. And we're going shout a lot later and it won't be because of Hello Mellow." The kid ended this with a huff, making his case.

 

The father stared at him with stunned eyes. It took a few minutes before he looked like he finally got what Jeremy was saying. Jeremy stared at his father let out an embarrassed cough and the teen wasn't sure if his eyes were playing with him but was his dad turning red?

 

"O-Oh. Son. I wasn't prepared for this conversation. I haven't done enough research to help. Okay, first of all. I feel like I should be strict about you leaving your door open."

 

What?

 

_What the fuck?_

 

"Wh-What're you saying???"

 

"And. Your age. Not that I'm judging the whole hormones thing--"

 

Jeremy had to back-pedal as quickly as he could before finally realizing what he said wrong. He could feel his face get warm because he actually just told his dad he and Michael were going to be shouting in his room without context.

 

At that, he sputtered out a, " Z-Zombies, o-oh my God. Me and Michael are going to play Apocalypse of the Damned, dad, please stop."

 

"..."

 

It was quiet for a few moments before the two burst out into laughter.

 

"Thank all the gods, I wasn't ready for that."

 

That got the kid laughing louder, "You?! How do you think I felt???"

 

Once the two have calmed down, Heere gave one last snort before he was sure he was coherent. He wiped a tear from the corner of his eye and faced his son properly, "Michael's the new kid, right? The one you mentioned before?"

 

Jeremy nodded and finally took a bite of his bacon. With that, he let himself talk about Michael and all his unusual tales.  The whole time, the adult whooped or cheered, at some parts he laughed loudly. His favorite was probably everyone's favorite story of Michael and it was none other than the Kropp and yogurt story. It's already a classic, considering it's only been a week. Heere nodded in approval once all the stories have been laid out. He also mentioned he was excited to meet the fellow and Jeremy could not wipe the grin from his face the whole bus ride after that.

 

* * *

 

Jeremy and Christine walked into campus to find Chloe and Michael in an argument. It wasn't a heated argument, though. It was obviously lighthearted by the way the two were forcing themselves to keep a serious face.

"You like them. You actually secretly like them." Michael was pointing an accusing finger at the other student. Slowly, a huge dopey grin took over his features and he repeated what he said with a teasing tinge to it.

"Youuuuu liiiike theeem." He was poking at her cheek this time. Chloe had retaliated with pushing his arm away and denying, "I don't! I just tried listening to them last night and they're actually really good."

 

"Which then implies you like them, Valentine."

 

"Shut up!"

 

Christine had cut their argument, asking the two what was up. Chloe turned her head violently towards Christine, as though she was a deer caught in the headlights. Before the girl could open her mouth though, Michael let out a loud, "I heard her listening and humming to Hello Mellow, and she can't deny it."

 

Jeremy couldn't help the grin that took over his face and Christine gasped, letting out an excited squeal.

 

Chloe started denying shit once more but Michael just added more to the other fans' excitement, stating it was even a song from the first album.

 

"She was listening to 'Freshmen Year' and that's probably one of the first fucking songs written by Richie, you guys," He started shaking Chloe's shoulders, obviously hyped, "I'M CLAIMING SHE LIKES RICHIE. HE'S DEFINITELY THE COOLEST."

 

The group ended up laughing and the argument on who was the coolest was brought back, this time with Chloe actually joining. She still denied liking them but would back Michael up with how Richie did indeed form the two, and jumpstarted the band.

 

The fight escalated with who was the most attractive and it was a rather heated argument considering how the three members were undeniably attractive. Christine was in the middle of talking about how Jakey-D's got the nicest form, while Michael countered with how Richie being the funniest was a big factor because humor was attractive. Jeremy was smiling from ear to ear, not being able to hide how amused he was with how petty the fight was but nonetheless fun.

 

"Mellow's the hottest. I-I mean, they're all hot but Mellow's got BOTH humor and looks! Like," Jeremy flailed his arms to emphasize just how. Christine and Chloe had giggled at how he looked but Michael was just staring at him, his face turning red. Like before, he was quick to mask that with a blinding smile and shook his head to himself. Jeremy wasn't sure if his eyes were playing tricks though because the boy looked like he was staring at Jeremy fondly.

 

The pale teen felt himself gulp and his chest warm up at that. He smiled back shyly and was about to speak more when all of a sudden, Brooke had joined.

“Hey! What’re you guys talking about?”

 

Before anyone could speak, Chloe had already tackled Michael, covering his mouth.  The teen hadn’t expected Christine to let out a, “Chloe listens to Hello Mellow now” to which Chloe acted upon and went on tackling Christine instead. She started cursing, her face flushed red, at both Michael and Christine, and Jeremy couldn’t help but laugh at the sight.

Brooke looked as though she was stunned for a few seconds before she faced Chloe with wide, excited eyes, “Oh my God, I knew it!”

No one was expecting that answer which was why the gang couldn’t help but laugh loudly at that.

 

Except Chloe. Her faced had gotten even redder, Jeremy noticed.

 

Soon enough, the embarrassed teen went and started cursing at her best friend. The blonde merely giggled though as she tried to pull off the other from tackling and lightly hitting her. When Brooke had finally peeled off Chloe off of her, she grinned at her sweetly, “You know what? Since you like them, I’m totally like, going to check them out. It’s going to be like One Direction again.” Brooke bopped Chloe’s nose to which the other blinked at.

At that, Christine let out a high-pitched screech, quickly pulling Brooke beside her and pulling out her phone, introducing each member to her. Jeremy let himself take in everything that was happening, smiling to himself. Christ, everyone was such dweebs. He watched Brooke and Christine stare at the phone screen, giggling and gasping. Slowly, he turned to Chloe who—

 

Jeremy blinked to himself.

 

Chloe, with her face flushed red and eyes wide, was staring at Michael. Michael, who was apparently staring back at her, suddenly looked as though he was surprised with how he had matched how wide Chloe’s eyes were.

 

The pale teen felt himself frown a bit. He also felt his chest sting for a moment, making him look away. He wasn’t sure why though so he went and stared and Brooke and Christine’s rambling instead. The two were obviously having a moment. Jeremy didn’t want to disturb or anything.

He bit his lip as he shook out the thought of Chloe and Michael having a moment. He also did his best to ignore how Chloe suddenly made her way to Michael, giving him a light shove to which the tanned teen let out a stunned laugh at. Nope. He was here, watching Christine explain the back story of Hello Mellow, and everything was a-okay.

Chrissy was in the middle of talking about their first tour when the bell finally rang. Soon enough, everyone said their goodbyes and went on their way except for Michael, who had an unusually big grin on his face. The spectacled teen made his way towards Jeremy, leaning close and putting an arm around the shorter teen’s shoulder. He pulled Jeremy close, making their heads bump, and he even started walking, pulling Jeremy along with him. The shorter of the two squirmed at that but it had pulled a laugh out of him, nonetheless. As he tried to escape the other’s hold, Michael pulled him closer and closer. Soon, the two were giggling at each other.

The grin was stuck on Michael’s face, Jeremy noticed. Jeremy bit his lip and let himself ask.

 

“Y-You look like you’re in a good mood, man.”

 

Michael gave Jeremy a happy look, his grin widening, “Oh, Jeremy. Love is love.”

 

A forced out chuckle was Jeremy’s best response. He shook his head and focused on walking instead. Soon enough, they were in their Math class, and Michael had released his hold of the other. The lecture started in no time and the class went on as it is.

 

Michael was the same ol’ Michael as a few days ago.

 

It was nice.

 

He had his shoulder pressed against Jeremy and Jeremy couldn’t help but notice how much the other kid had leaned close to him during the lecture even when they weren’t doing any seat work. The hoodied teen still whispered random side comments at the other, to which Jeremy couldn’t help but giggle at.

One frustrating thing about Michael was the fact that he could answer all the equations with ease. He would take one look at an equation, answer it in a few minutes, and would go back to poking Jeremy with his pencil or doodling shit on his notebook. If he noticed Jeremy was stuck though, he would take the time to help.

Jeremy wasn’t sure how that was frustrating, though. How he was good at it or how he made it seem cool that he was good at it. Or maybe it was how attractive he made Advanced Algebra seem--

The brunet blinked to himself.

 

_Attractive?_

 

He let himself peek at Michael who was in the middle of scribbling carelessly on the side of his notebook, obviously done with the equation the teacher had asked them to try out. He let himself stare at the teen’s concentrated gaze, his tongue even sticking out at whatever he was doodling. He watched as the he ran his hand through his dark hair that looked really soft, even when it stuck up everywhere. He also noticed the other dude was sniffling too which would indicate that he was still probably sick.

Out of nowhere, Michael turned his face towards him, catching his gaze. Jeremy kept himself from jumping back in surprise at that, raising a brow instead as though to ask what was up. A tap on the notebook was the other kid’s response, as though to show what he was doodling. Michael mouthed an, “I drew you,” and true enough, as the lanky teen turned his attention to the doodle, he found a very poor drawing of him.

Jeremy had to force himself to keep his laughter in, with Michael’s offended look making it much harder to do so.

 

Clingy Michael didn’t last long though. Jeremy wasn’t disappointed. He swore he wasn’t.

When Economics came, Jeremy found Michael quickly moving towards Chloe and nudging her with his elbow. She retaliated with another hard shove to which the other merely laughed at again like a while ago. Jeremy gulped at that and went his way beside Brooke, greeting her with a soft, “hi.”

For some odd reason, Jeremy couldn’t help it but his gaze would always follow Michael and Chloe’s way. The two were whispering at each other and with every eyebrow wiggle Michael would do, Chloe would flush red. Shaking his head, the lanky teen faced Brooke instead. She had her book out and was asking about the Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility. He decided to go and explain it to her.

 

* * *

 

Lunch came soon and this time, Michael and Chloe were still seated next to each other. They looked like they had their own little world out there and Jeremy hated the feeling in his chest. He’s never felt it before and he didn’t like it one bit. He wanted to clutch and scratch at it until it would disappear but he knew actually doing that wouldn’t result into anything which sucks.

With that, he leaned closer to Christine and brought the most random topic he could think of. Soon, the two were talking shit about dogs and babies on YouTube. Weird, but nice. The two were giggling messes in the middle of the conversation with Christine imitating the talking Husky that blew up in 2012 or something. Brooke joined after a bit, joining along the giggling. It wasn’t until Jenna sat down next to her when they stopped giggling. She lightly laid her lunch on the table and tilted her head towards Michael and Chloe.

 

“They look comfy.”

 

The three turned their gaze towards the other two.

Jenna spoke up first with a teasing tone, “Hey, you two. Stop flirting there!”

It was meant to be a joke but that hit Jeremy somehow.

 

What the fuck was happening to his chest??? Jesus Christ.

 

He felt Christine bump her shoulder against his, giving him an apologetic grin. It was as though she knew something he didn’t and that only got him even more confused.

Brooke joined Jenna with the whole teasing to which Chloe blushed at. Michael didn’t look fazed, though. He rolled his eyes, scrunching his nose at Chloe, “Oh, man. You have no idea how wrong you guys are—“

 

“Shut the fuck up, Mell!”

 

The two had started cussing at each other when all of a sudden, when the intro of ‘Creeps’ started playing. Jeremy recognized that tune anywhere. It was one of the first songs Hello Mellow as a band wrote together. It was 3 out of 7 of the happy-sounding-but-actually-sad songs of the album. Jeremy remembered hearing it the first time and falling further in love with the band. Hearing it now made him realize he hasn’t listened to it properly for a long time now.

It was apparently Michael’s phone ringing, and once he pulled the mobile out of his pocket, the first verse started playing. He found himself listening to Michael humming along as the dude checked at the caller ID. What startled the group though was the sudden “fuck!” that came from the guy, quickly answering the call.

“Yeah, yeah. Okay, I won’t be—“

Everyone watched as he pulled back the phone, making a face at the shouting on the receiver. He suddenly looked at the others, whispering a soft apology, then walking out of the cafeteria quickly, leaving his things.

 

It wasn’t long before everyone’s attention was back to Chloe, teasing her with Michael. At this though, she looked more annoyed rather than embarrassed, to which Brooke probably noticed with how she shifted the topic to Hello Mellow. Good friend.

Lunch ended and Michael still wasn’t back. Jeremy bit his cheek and decided to carry his backpack instead of just leaving it there in the open. Soon, they were walking to Chemistry to find Michael running towards their way.

He was breathless when he reached them, eyes widening at Jeremy who was carrying his bag. His face suddenly flushed red, probably at the sight or from running. The lanky teen wasn’t sure.

“Michael, are you okay?” Christine, bless her precious soul, started patting Michael’s back. He was struggling to talk and was coughing. “Sorry, sorry, I—“

He gasped, “Some shit happened to my um, friend and pap—“ He shook his head, “Pops! He and his pops had a fight. He had to stay in my place so I had to do a bunch of phone calls like my mom and his boyfriend who’s—“

“Hey, hey, breathe, man.” Jeremy felt himself go closer and started rubbing his back as well.

Jenna joined along, staring at the other teen, concerned. “You look horrible.”

It wasn’t the best thing to say but it got the tired teen laughing which was a win for the three. Jeremy couldn’t help but agree, though. All of a sudden, Michael started coughing non-stop to which the other teens started panicking at, all three patting Michael’s back hard all at the same time.

“Oh— Ouch, guys, stop,” Michael snorted. Jeremy tried not to think about how it was cute. He took in what was happening though and snorted as well. They looked ridiculous.

An idea popped in Jeremy’s head, considering he’s noticed Michael was still pretty sick.

 

“Hey, wanna skip Chem for now? I- I’ll bring you to the Infirmary, man.”

 

When the huffing teen tried to object, Christine shook her head and crossed her arms, “No! Jeremy’s right! You look really bad, Michael. Infirmary’s the best way to go, okay?” Jeremy gave her a grateful look when Michael finally agreed. Chrissy was such a mom, Jeremy giggled at the thought.

Jenna and Christine had to rush to class after that, leaving Jeremy with Michael who seemed as though he was breathing better. They started making their way towards the school’s Infirmary, walking slowly.

It was quiet for a few before the tanned teen spoke up, flashing Jeremy an apologetic look.

“Hey, man. S-Sorry, I had to drag you into this. I won’t keep you long in time for World History, swear.”

Jeremy blinked at that before letting out an amused huff, “I-It’s pretty cool how you know my last class. I forget I take that subject sometimes. Chrissy always takes notes for me b-but like, I help with Math.”

It was quiet in the hallway. It was nice like this, no people swarming everywhere.

Michael, Jeremy noticed, had not answered to what he said and was being oddly quiet to which why he had turned to see how he was. He was met with Michael Mell, covering half his face with his arm as he walked. Jeremy was startled at that, letting out a surprised chuckle.

“H-Hey, what’s up?”

Jeremy wasn’t sure why but he can speak properly to Michael. There wasn’t even a hint of awkwardness, just comfortable silence. It was nice and rare. Christ, Michael Mell had such a different effect on him, he could feel his chest warming at the thought.

 

“D-Dude, I just went full on creeper mode on you, like, who the fuck memorizes schedules???”

 

The pale teen blinked at him, “You memorize my schedule?”

 

“ _Oh my God.”_

 

Michael removed his arm from his face, his face flushing red, “Oh my God, forget that. I don’t memorize it, I swear, like, I mean, we both have p-pretty similar schedules, dude. So, like, I mean, of course I’d memorize it, right? Like okay, for real, though. I guess I have really good memory so like, when I first saw your schedule as a basis for mine, it stuck?” He ran his hand through his hair, looking frustrated and embarrassed at the same time, “Shut me up. God, are you there? Please shut my Christian ass, man.”

That cracked Jeremy up.

 

Michael Mell.

 

_God._

 

Michael Mell was something.

 

The two ended up laughing on their way to the Nurse’s.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Jeremy stayed for a few but ended up running to his Chemistry class once the nurse had said she could take care of Michael and that he shouldn’t skip class. Michael said his thanks, getting even more embarrassed when he remembered that Jeremy’s been carrying his bag the whole time.

In the middle of World History, Jeremy had wondered if Michael would still come over. He bit the inside of his cheek. He probably already got sent home, now that he thought of it.

He let himself scan through the chalkboard, trying to make sense of what was written, and ignoring the disappointed feeling in his chest. He and Michael could hang out next time anyway. The guy deserved rest and Jeremy was being a huge shit for wanting to keep him up to play even when he was sick. Jeremy distracted himself instead by doodling notes on Chrissy’s notebook, to which she would add details too, and by the time the period was done, they were able to create their masterpiece of a hybrid of a dog and a bird, wearing a sweater.

 

As Jeremy went out of the room, he found Michael waiting for him, earphones on and skimming through his mobile. It made his chest do a small flip especially with how he was met with a bright smile.

Christine greeted Michael first, Jeremy followed through.

Michael seemed like he felt better. He was chipper and he didn’t look like he was about to die like how he looked a while ago. He removed his headphones, telling the two he felt better. As though by timing, Jenna, Chloe and Brooke appeared, greeting the others as well.

Jenna smirked at Chloe, “Hey, your boy looks better now!”

Christine pouted at Jenna at that, scolding her with a, “Hey, c’mon, Jenna.”

Jeremy watched as Michael and Chloe rolled their eyes at the same time. It was actually impressive how in-sync it was. Jeremy tried not to look too much into it, though. He shook his head to himself and forced up a smile, asking the others their plans. All of a sudden though, the fact the Michael was here with them just sunk in. He turned his head abruptly towards Michael.

“W-W-Wait, why’re you here?”

Michael seemed surprised and confused at that. He pouted at Jeremy, “What?”

Jeremy shook his head, panicking. He probably sounded as though he didn’t want Michael there. _No, no, no._

“A-Aren’t you sick? I-I assumed they’d send you home?”

 

The tanned teen’s eyes widened, realization drowning his features, “Oh! They did!”

The gang let out a loud, “What?!” all at the same time.

The response was a careless shrug and a lazy grin, “Me and Jerm here are going to have a gaming sesh. We’re going to have them quality bro time. I didn’t want to miss it.”

At the nickname, Jeremy heard Chrissy giggle and let out an, “Oh my God, Jerm’s such a cute nickname.”

Michael turned to her, looking proud of himself, “I know, right? I can’t believe no one’s thought of that.” He then turned to Jeremy, and he was looking at Jeremy with such a soft look, the pale teen could feel his cheeks heating up—

 

“ _Oh my God.”_

 

That was Chloe. Chloe who was suddenly wearing a devious smile directed at Michael. Then there’s Michael who abruptly turned his head towards Chloe, looking as though he was caught.

They kept having these moments and Jeremy honestly didn’t know what to feel about the things his chest was doing.

 

“Shut up, Valentine.”

 

“Oh, make me, Mell.”

 

“You know I could. With Br—“

 

“OH JEREMY—“

 

All of a sudden, Michael had tugged Jeremy’s arm and had started running towards the exit, flipping Chloe off. To Christine, he let out a loud, “Christine, I’m stealing Jeremy for now!!! I’ll take care of him, I promise!” Jeremy was too shocked to respond, running along with the other teen and soon enough, they were by a PT Cruiser. Michael was huffing again and Jeremy couldn’t help but scold him for it, “Y-You keep running! S-Stop running, man, you’re sick.”

Michael blinked up at him, grinning wide. He let out a chuckle, pulling out his keys. _Oh. Oh, he owned this car._

Jeremy heard him huff something under his breath, along the lines of “Christ” and “Cute.” Jeremy bit the inside of his cheek. It was probably because of the random dispute between him and Chloe.

“You’re riding with me today, man. So you’re going to show me where you live.” Michael wiggled his brow at Jeremy. At that, the tight feeling in his chest upon thinking about Michael and Chloe slowly disappeared, pushing a laugh out of Jeremy’s chest.

 

Christ, this boy.

 

Once they were inside the car and it was running, the two were talking about random video game shit. Michael was telling Jeremy about how he couldn’t get past Level 9 until one of his friends got annoyed with him playing the whole day, and ended up doing it for him. He said his pride still hurt at that memory and that he was pretty glad he’ll get to actually experience beating the level himself.

At the mention of his friend though, curiosity filled Jeremy. He tilted his head, facing Michael. “Is that the same friend who had a fight with his pops a while ago?”

Michael grimaced and Jeremy regretted asking right away. Christ, _stupid_. It was obviously a heavy topic. He shouldn’t have asked at all. It was none of his business. He was about to tell Michael he didn’t have to answer when the other teen started speaking up, “Yeah. Um, his pops. Did this thing where um, he stayed outside his place the whole time,” his eyes were still on the road, “And like, it’s pretty stalker-ish and um, my friend. Since he didn’t like dealing with bullshit, he sort of got mad and went on fighting. Which was pretty dangerous.”

At a pedestrian lane, Michael slowly stepped on his break, letting people walk through. He turned to Jeremy and shrugged, “The thing is, the whole staying outside the house thing’s never happened so I was pretty startled. He and his boyfriend live together now and it’s dangerous because um, his pops never really approved of their relationship, so I let them stay in my place for now.”

Wow. That was depressing and scary. Jeremy never knew this type of shit actually happened in real life. He suddenly felt sad and was sure Michael was sad as well. He groaned internally to himself. He could still fix this, right? Find another topic? What’s been making Michael laugh the whole day?

All of a sudden, images of Michael and Chloe interacting flashed through his head.

There we go.

Jeremy let out a nervous laugh, “Y-You and Chloe’s been p-pretty friendly.”

That was the most awkward wording, Jeremy wanted to shout and hit himself. Michael suddenly swerved, causing the two to screech at the same time. The tanned teen gave the other an exasperated look, “D-Dude, no? I thought you got me from a while ago, man.”

 

The pale teen stared back at Michael, lost. “Wh-What?”

Michael blinked at him, doing this weird hand gesture thing, “Love is love?”

Jeremy blinked back, “Y-You love Chloe?”

 

At that, Michael suddenly parked at the nearest convenience store. He was rubbing his face, as though he couldn’t believe what was happening.

“O-Oh man, if I keep driving I’m pretty sure I’m going to hit someone.”

His face was all red and he stared at Jeremy in disbelief, “D-Dude. Love is love. Chloe’s gay. She obviously has a huge hecking crush on Brooke Lohst.”

Jeremy’s eyes widened, “Wh-What?!”

He felt his voice crack and he couldn’t help but wince at it because that hurt. He stared back at Michael in disbelief, “Wh-What do you mean??? How would you know? She’s never told us?”

“First of all,” Michael took off his glasses, wiping at his eyes, “She was making intense heart eyes at her this morning and it was the most obvious thing, dude.” He wore his glasses again, “And second, I started teasing her about it every time I saw her and now she’s plotting my painful death, which basically confirms it, duh.”

Jeremy was having a hard time swallowing everything down. He also couldn’t help the relief that washed through his being, hearing that.

He gulped and looked at Michael, “S-So you don’t love Chloe?”

The other teen ran his hands through his hair again, groaning a bit, “Never in my life, Jerm.” He gave a sigh, “Because I’m pretty gay, myself.”

 

There was silence.

 

Jeremy blinked at Michael, a bit shocked, “R-Really?”

Michael had turned away from Jeremy, starting the engine once again. With an embarrassed pout, he nodded, “G-Got a problem with that, punk?”

That got a giggle out of the lanky teen.

His chest was warm.

All sorts of warm.

He was also happy.

Really, genuinely happy, he couldn’t keep a grin off his face.

He shook his head at Michael, “N-Nah. I-I’m bi, man.”

 

Slowly, Michael turned his head towards Jeremy, meeting his gaze. He returned the grin and it only made Jeremy's chest flutter even more. “So, love is love?”

Jeremy nodded, “Love is love.”

 

* * *

 

 

Jeremy pointed the way to his house and soon enough, the two had arrived.

His dad wasn’t home yet and he was sure he was going to be in a few hours. He could introduce Michael to him then. For now, though, he could set up his video games, and maybe play music while the two were playing.

Jeremy led the other guy upstairs, offering him to sit on the bed as he set up his console, inserting Apocalypse of the Damned. After inserting the disc, he threw the remote controller towards Michael which earned a loud, “fuck!” considering there was no warning. Jeremy let himself smile at it and flip off the other when he got flipped off.

Next he went and turned on his Bluetooth Speaker and connected his phone, skimming through the saved playlists on it. He hummed to himself as he skimmed though the songs. As he spotted, ‘Creeps’ he grinned. With this being Michael’s ring tone, surely he liked this song a lot.

He clicked on the song and soon, his room was filled with the familiar intro.

Michael, who was fixing through the game’s setting, suddenly turned his head towards the speaker, “Oh shit!” He gave Jeremy a huge, excited grin, flashing him an okay sign with one hand, “Dude, this is my fave.” Then started singing along to the first verse.

Jeremy froze at that, letting Michael’s voice fill his room along with the music.

 

_"Red cup, there’s the smell of booze_

_Get up, and just hang on loose_

_This night’s going to end soon_

_I wish,_

_I wish,"_

Michael’s voice. Michael’s voice was amazing. It just so happened that it was cracking, nasal and he couldn’t reach the higher notes but it was one of the most soothing things Jeremy’s ever listened to. Jeremy couldn’t imagine how nice it would sound if he weren’t sick.

Goosebumps rose on Jeremy’s arm and he couldn’t help but rub at it, eyes still glued to the other teen who was now rolling on his bed, all comfy and shouting the refrain, then soon the chorus.

 

_“ I know I’m just a Creep_

_Sweepin’ through and movin’ out and_

_I know I’m just a Creep_

_Filled with all the fear and doubt and_

_I just want to sleep_

_Through the end of all days_

_Then once all is quiet, everything’s okay “_

When the guitar’s lead got louder, Jeremy couldn’t help but sing along with the other teen as the chorus repeated.

Jeremy sat down near to where Michael was rocking out with the guitar, laughing loudly. The two started screaming the next few lyrics of the song, both their voices cracking and trying not to laugh. They ended up cackling, though, and soon enough, the song ended. Breathing hard, the two faced each other with wide grin and Jeremy’s everything felt so light and—

 

“I thought you’d be shouting about Zombies.”

 

Jeremy turned to his doorway, to find his Dad staring at them, amused.

Jeremy may have also been really startled and accidentally fell off the bed but he was going to deny the shit out of that.

 

“DAD! You’re early!”

Michael laughed loudly, “You make it sound like we were caught doing some—“ Jeremy covered his mouth. Jeremy glared, the other muttered an apology.

At that, the Michael sat up and shook his head, turning his gaze towards the adult. He stood up and walked his way towards him, offering a handshake.

“Hello there, sir. I’m Michael Mell. I’m a friend of Jeremy’s in school.”

Jeremy’s dad eyed the teen with a neutral look. He carefully took the hand and shook it slowly. Jeremy wanted to groan though because his dad was obviously pulling off the scary dad act considering Michael was new to the house, _oh god._

The two were shaking hands for too long and Jeremy could see Michael’s back starting to tense up so he took the situation to his own hands and stood up.

“Oookay, dad. Stop the act. This is Michael. I’ve told you about him?” He let out a nervous laugh, “Seriously, dad, stop the act.”

After a few more seconds of silence, his dad giggled.

 

_Giggled._

 

Jeremy covered his face, embarrassed. He let out a low, “Daaaad.” To which the older guy merely laughed louder at. Soon, he was grinning at Michael brightly.

“You should’ve seen his face, son. I’m sorry, Michael, but I’ve always wanted to do that. Jeremy only ever brings home Chrissy, Chloe, Jenna and Brooke. They’re already used to going here.”

Jeremy heard Michael let out a nervous laugh at that, even clutching at his chest, “N-No problem, Mr. Heere. If it’s any consolation, I was genuinely terrified.”

That got both Heeres laughing, and soon, Michael joined along.

The father shook his head and wiped a tear from the corner of one eyes, letting out a huff. “I’ve heard good stories about you, Michael. Good to have you here. Keep the door open, okay?” He gave the teen a shoulder squeeze. Soon, he waved goodbye, telling the two to order what they want, then went straight to his room.

There was a few seconds of silence before Michael let out a cough.

“I don’t know what to feel about your dad. I think I like him.”

That startled a giggle out of Jeremy. Facing Michael, he shook his head and rubbed his face, “I am _so_ sorry.”

“Nah, dude! It’s cool. He’s cool. He’s a cool dad.” Michael had a small smile on his face as he stared at the doorway. Jeremy let himself bump shoulders with him, getting his attention.

“L-Let’s beat some zombie ass?”

Michael let out a whoop and raced his way towards the controllers.

 

* * *

 

 

Jeremy never thought he could have this much fun playing a zombie game. He felt as though his lungs were giving out and his cheeks were straining. He was sure Michael was feeling this same. He was wheezing pretty loudly.

Were they doing a great job beating Level 9? No, they were not.

How many **GAME OVER** s have they had? Jeremy lost count after 9.

It was fun, nonetheless because at this moment, Michael would let out unbelievably long strings of curses as he made his character run around the whole ground, avoiding any zombie that would come his way. Jeremy, in return, would laugh at how ridiculous his avatar looked roaming around during the game play. They sucked, that was for sure, but seeing the way Michael’s body jump and hearing his strained scream then followed by manic laughter made everything better.

After the nth **GAME OVER** , the two ended up just lying down on the bed, listening to whatever song that was playing. They were both breathing hard but had huge grins plastered on their faces.

“Did I forget to mention I sucked? Because I think I did and feel the need to apologize for it.”

Jeremy shook his head, “I sucked too. We both sucked but that was the most fun I’ve ever had.”

 

Comfortable silence lingered between the two for a few seconds before Michael sat up, pulling his backpack. “We deserve a break, dude.” He unzipped the bag, pulling out a few bags of Doritos. Jeremy huffed at that, amused. “I think we have to eat dinner first. Want me to order Chinese? Thai?”

Michael hummed at that, nodding, “Yeah, Chinese is cool, dude.”

At that, Jeremy stood up from his bed, “Alright, alright. I’ll go call up downstairs. You stay here for a while!” The tanned teen responded with a grin and two thumbs up.

 

The lanky teen made his way downstairs and dialed the number that was stuck on the fridge on his mobile. It took a few rings before the restaurant finally answered. In the middle of stating his usual order and his dad’s usual order, Jeremy realized he wasn’t able to ask for Michael’s order.

With a stuttered voice, he asked the lady on line to stay on hold for a few and ran his way upstairs.

“Michael! I forgot to ask for your or—“

 

Jeremy blinked, shocked. His friend was passed out on his bed, face down with his head buried on Jeremy’s pillow. Quietly, Jeremy moved far from his doorway, continuing his phone call. “Maybe, just double the order for beef and broccoli.”

Soon enough, the call ended and Jeremy made his way back to his room.

Lightly, he sat on his bed, staring at the sleeping teen beside him.  

 

Jeremy covered his mouth from laughing out loud when Michael suddenly let out a snore. His chest was feeling all sorts of things. It fluttered at the sight of the sleeping boy. He wanted to run his hand through his hair and poke at his cheek. He wanted to see if he would wake up if he blew on his face or if—

Jeremy’s eyes widened.

He placed a hand on his chest as it started beating faster and faster.

 

_Holy shit._

In panic, he quickly unlocked his phone, typing out Christine’s name.

 

 **JEREMY:** Chrissy

 **JEREMY:** SOS

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm just gonna lay it out there. i'm so sorry abt making this hella slow burn i won't make it too long tho that's for sure. 10 chaps at most. i'm not kidding when i say i'm no writer. english is my lowest sub besides accounting. 
> 
> also, michael is taller than jere. like, i'm basing this on george and will's height and george is taller i swear to u. ALSO, christ i'm gonna be adding bits and pcs i have heard george salazar say irl bc i mean, i've met him when he went to the PH, and CHRIST he said so many things that mellow could say and i'm really excited for that. but this is going to progress really slow ok? i'm studying loads and have been stressed and i can't apologize enough. 
> 
> ALSO, some gave some ideas and i might use it for later chapters, ok? so hang in there. MOST OF THE TWITTER UPDATES WILL BE NEXT CHAP
> 
> ALSO MORE FANART OH MY GOD I LOVE U GUYS
> 
> https://siradope.tumblr.com/post/167532499307/humuhgod-siradope-drew-another-scene-from?is_highlighted_post=1
> 
> https://ddevotee.tumblr.com/post/167561005948/hey-did-i-ever-mention-that-i-live-for-hello
> 
> and like before, u know the drill, i'll edit it all them errorz galore when i can.
> 
> if u have questions, hmu in tumblr yo @ humuhgod.tumblr.com


	6. tell wello

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [tour guide voice] and here we see a boy with a massive boy crush & his bff noticing things

**chrissy** : SOS???????!

 

Jeremy felt his fingers shake as he typed out his next message.

 

 **jeremy** : my cjest izn doing things

  
He gulped.

Slowly, he took a peek at the napping teen on his bed. He let his eyes scan through his whole being and there it was. His chest did that flippity-flop. Actually, now that he thought of it, his chest has been doing all sorts of things when he was with Michael. It just so happened he took no mind of it.

He moved closer, clutching at his phone as it kept vibrating.

He watched the boy whose mouth was partly open, softly snoring. He watched the boy do a little nose scrunch and saw how his body twitched a bit before shifting positions.

And that?

That was the cutest thing Jeremy has ever seen in his entire life and a part of his heart was surely melted. He backed away slowly from the bed and checked his phone.

 

 **chrissy:** what thiNGS????

 **chrissy:** aARE U HAVING A HEART ATTACK???

 **chrissy:** JEREMY ?

 **chrissy:** ARE YOU ALIVE

 **chrissy:** JEREMY HEERE IF U DONT ANSWER THIS INSTANT I WILL PERSONALLY KILL YOU

  
Jeremy bit his lip and typed.

  
**jeremy:** no, no. warm things? happy, warm things?

 **chrissy:** ??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? WHAT

 **jeremy:** inthink im getting feelings

 **chrissy:** W H A T ? MELLOW KIND OF FEELINGS ?

  
And at that, Jeremy stopped a bit.

He thought of Mellow, remembering the flood of happiness and excitement that coursed through his body. He thought of Mellow and remembered wanting to scream at the kind of rush that filled his being. He clutched at his chest, not being able to keep a smile from his face. God, Mellow was amazing and hot. He was talented and funny, and it would be an absolute fucking honor to meet the guy. He's watched every video of his and everything about him made him giddy. His voice, his laugh, all his shenanigans.

Then he thought of Michael. Memories of his word-vomiting filled his brain, and his voice talking about Apocalypse of the Damned followed. He thought about the warmth on his shoulder and the ambiance when he was with him. How he could be comfortable and make jokes, how he could laugh loudly and sing loudly without the fear of being judged. The way his brown eyes would meet Jeremy's, all bright and wide and pretty.

He clutched at his chest harder as it turned warmer. It was cinnamon hot chocolate on a cold night. It was licking his lips as newly roasted marshmallows melted in his mouth. It was walking in the hallway and everything was okay because he could just be.  
Jeremy blinked to himself.

He blinked even more as the feeling sunk in even more and realization struck his everything.

He stared at his phone screen with wide eyes. With a gulp, he typed out a reply.

  
**jeremy:** theyre not . its much more, chrissy

 **chrissy:** holy crap

  
Holy crap, indeed.

  
Jeremy was in the middle of bashing on his keypad when the familiar tune of a Hello Mellow song resounded throughout the room.

He jumped a bit at the sudden sound, and then looked around to find where it was coming from. Following the tune, he found himself staring at Michael’s phone, just a few centimeters beside him. Carefully, he took the mobile, and checked at the caller ID that read: “sbarro enthusiast”.

Jeremy blinked at it. He bit his lip, wondering if he should answer or not. Would that be violating privacy? But what if the person trying to call was a family member or something? Brother, maybe? Considering surely no one would ever name their parents “sbarro enthusiast”.

The ringing suddenly stopped, and Jeremy felt as though he could breathe again. Slowly, he tried to place the phone back when it suddenly rang again.

Yelping, Jeremy pulled back quickly. He took a look at the caller ID which said: “bi-rinski” this time. The teen raised a brow at that. Huh, Michael was pretty weird when it came to making contact names.

Jeremy glanced at the sleeping boy before gulping to himself. He could just tell the caller that Michael’s fallen asleep. Or actually, he could just wake Michael up. Honestly, that would be the best way to go, but he wasn’t sure how he was going to deal with him considering he just realized he had HUGE HECKING feelings for him, like—

The ringing suddenly stopped.

The brunet paused. He stared at the phone again, expecting it to ring once more but instead, what came was a text notification. Michael doesn’t seem to be a private person considering the whole text was just right there. Christ, he was so going to teach Michael about the privacy setting because anyone could just read things off his phone. But not Jeremy. Jeremy was a good citizen. A law-abiding man. He was not going to read what was on—

  
The teen jumped a bit when another text came. Then another, and another, and another, and Jeremy was starting to panic. He was about to place the phone back on the bed so he could pretend nothing happened, but as he was about to let go, he accidentally took a glimpse of the latest text.

 **bi-rinski (7:48 pm):** im going to call one more time and if you dont ans im throwing ur xbox

Jeremy’s eyes widened at that. Holy shit.  
It took a few seconds before the mobile rang again, and this time, Jeremy answered it quickly. In panic, he spoke before the caller had any word out, “M-Michael’s asleep. P-Please don’t throw his X-Box. Th-That’s like, super expensive and a-a waste, and I don’t think he’d like that. D-Do I wake him up? I’m sorry I answered. I’m not a creep, I promise.”

Jeremy wasn’t sure if he took a breath saying all that. All he knew was that his head was spinning, his hand was shaking, and his own mobile was still vibrating. He’d completely forgotten he was talking to Chrissy.

“ _Whoa, shit dude, calm down._ ”

The teen couldn’t help but feel as though he’s heard that voice before. The feeling confused him, and that wasn’t helping at all. He’s already so fucking confused tonight; he doesn’t need more shit, so he let it slide. He was about to apologize once more when another voice spoke in the other line, a bit softer.

 _“S’that Mikey?”_  
_“No, s’the kid he’s with.”_  
_“WHAT? DUDE.”_

Suddenly, loud rustles, along with incoherent murmurs, met Jeremy’s ears.

 _“Ch…vo…DUDE,”_  
_“I…I didn’t….fuck tha…”_  
_“J…Give me…y—“_  
_“If…this…faul—“_

Jeremy was about to speak up again to see if they were still on the line when another voice spoke. It was deep, and rough. Jeremy was beyond confused now because they also spoke with a horrible British accent. It was so obviously fake, Jeremy would laugh if he wasn’t so lost at the moment.

_“Um, yes, why hello there, young lad. This is Michael Mell’s father speaking.”_

The voice from a while ago could still be heard, though, letting out a, “what the fuck are you doing?” and Jeremy honestly wanted to cry now. Answering the phone was a mistake. Not waking Michael up was a mistake. What in the world was happening tonight? He genuinely had no idea what to do now, so he chose to just go along with it.

“Mr. Mell. I am so sorry. J-Just give me a few I’ll go wake Michael up.”

The teen placed his own mobile down for a moment, and pulled Michael’s mobile away from his ear. Now, the hard part.

Jeremy turned his attention to the sleeping teen. He could feel his heart pounding hard in his chest, because as of that moment, he was staring at Michael Mell. Michael Mell who still looked really, really good even when he was asleep. Michael Mell who was snoring softly on his bed, all comfy and nice. Michael Mell, the boy he realized he had feelings for.

  
With a soft exhale, he leaned down. With one free hand, he let himself gently shake the boy awake.

 

“M-Michael. Y-Your phone.”

 

A soft grumble was the response. Jeremy watched as the tanned teen scrunched his nose and pouted his lips, obviously not wanting to get up, all while his eyes were still closed. And that? That did a shit ton on Jeremy. It was too fucking cute. How is a boy that cute? How is a sleeping boy that cute? Oh my god.

Jeremy took another deep breath and exhaled slowly. He can do this. He let himself shake Michael harder, “Michael, y-your dad? Your dad’s on your phone.”

No response. The pale teen bit his lips, and tried once more. His voice was louder this time, “Michaeeeel. Your dad’s on the phooooone.” As he whined, he shook Michael much harder than a while ago. Fortunately, that did it. Michael had finally opened his eyes, squinting at the light. With a gruff voice (help Jeremy’s heart), he let out a soft, “what do you mean my dad?” to which Jeremy quickly flashed his phone’s screen at, to show the caller ID.

In a few seconds span, Michael’s eyes widened. He sat up quickly and grabbed his phone. He then stood up from the bed and ran towards the door, then straight out, into the hallway.

Huh. With a huff, Jeremy sat down on his bed. He let the boy be. He probably wanted to take the call in private, and Jeremy can’t really do anything about that. He could still feel his heart beating fast. This was bad. He was suddenly so painfully aware of how he feels for Michael. He needed to calm the fuck down. Soon, Michael will be back and if he ever saw how awkward Jeremy would be with him, he’d surely get a hint. Jeremy did not want him to get a hint. They just met a few weeks ago, for gosh’s sake! He’s definitely going to think Jeremy’s some weird creeper.

In an attempt to calm down, he got his phone to check all the messages Chrissy left him.  
  
**chrissy:** oh my gosh this is like ur first real boi crush!!!!!!!!!!

 **chrissy:** not that i’m saying mellow and deadpool aren’t real

 **chrissy:** THIS IS JUST SO SWEET! IDK IF I SHOULD FEEL EXCITED OR LIKE

 **chrissy:** I FEEL LIKE UR MOM JERE BEARS GOT A CRUSH I NEED TO DROWN YOU W LOVIN

 **chrissy:** wait

 **chrissy:** isn’t he with you right now???????????

 **chrissy:** oh. OH . OH OK I GET WHY YOURE PANICKING

 **chrissy:** Jeremy???

 **chrissy:** JERE DID U ACTUALLY DIE

 **chrissy:** from feelings???????????????????

 **chrissy:** i’m coming over later u deserve ice cream and and chick flicks

 **chrissy:** oh but my mom says I have to be back my 8 am but THAT’S OK FOR THE SAKE OF PUPPY LOVE

Jeremy let a soft laugh. Christine Canigula was a downright sweetheart; he will never understand why she stuck around with him. A sleepover sounds super great. Jeremy needed some time to just let everything out and Chrissy was the perfect person to talk to about this. Also, she totally just saved him from being alone with Michael Mell. Not that he didn’t want to hang out with him. He wanted to. He really, really wanted to. But right now, he didn’t know how to keep his heart calm at the thought of him, what more if he was just a few inches close.

He genuinely didn’t want Michael to get creeped out. Jeremy bit his lip at the thought of Michael ever looking at him disgustedly. With an intake of breath, he shook his head to erase every thought in his head. Too many things were happening.

He started typing when Michael’s voice suddenly filled his ears. Looking up, he found a very disheveled Michael Mell walking towards him.

“Jeremy, dude. I’m so sorry. I didn’t think I’d fall asleep, man.”

He was staring at Jeremy with wide, apologetic eyes. As he drew nearer, Jeremy couldn’t help but stare as the other kid started babbling out more shit. It sounded blocked to Jeremy at that moment. He was too focused on Michael with his dumb, bright eyes and the dumb little mole by the side of his mouth. Michael with his dumb eyelashes and—

“Jerm???”

Jeremy blinked. He shook his head and cleared his throat, shifting his full attention to whatever Michael was saying.

“S-Sorry. Wh-What was that? I think I spaced out.”

 _Oh my fuck_. Jeremy’s first move after saying that was to cover his face because one, that was so fucking embarrassing. Jeremy could feel his face getting warm. And two, he wasn’t sure how he was going to face Michael. He honestly didn’t want to see the expression on his face after Jeremy was being a downright creep.

There was a few seconds of silence before Jeremy finally heard Michael’s voice, “You spaced out, huh?”

Michael had said his with a teasing tone which seemed like a good sign. Teasing was much better than sounding grossed out, right? Right.

This helped Jeremy gain courage, letting himself peek through the spaces between his fingers. The moment his eyes met Michael’s, he was sure he regretted taking a peek.

Michael was staring at him, giving Jeremy a dopey smile that did a shit ton to Jeremy’s chest. Even his eyes were smiling, doing that little crinkle thing at that side of it. He was staring at Jeremy so fucking fondly, Jeremy had no idea what to do. Michael Mell will definitely be the death of him.

“Wh-Why are you looking at me like that?” Jeremy, being the Jeremy he was, obviously just had to ask the worst question of all time. Bless Michael, though, considering his response was a slight shrug. The tanned teen suddenly let out a soft laugh, shaking his head, then muttered something under his breath to which Jeremy couldn’t really make out.

Jeremy was about to let out a, “What?” when all of a sudden, the taller teen sat beside him. He then proceeded to lean close that caught the teen off guard, but Jeremy was pretty proud he didn’t pull away. “I said I’m sorry I fell asleep. I’m also really sorry you had to deal with the shitheads on my phone. That wasn’t my dad, by the way. He said I’m going to have to go soon. Some shit happened.”

Michael then leaned back, and flashed another smile, “Oh, and I also said you’re pretty adorbs, man.”

Jeremy’s eyes widened at that. He also felt his brain short-circuit for a moment. His chest was beating real fast again. To all the gods out there, may they hear his cries. If this kept up, he was pretty sure his heart would just burst. In a non-gross way. Yikes. More of a party-popper-bright-confetti kinda way.

Michael must have found Jeremy flustered real funny considering how he started laughing. Slightly insulted, Jeremy squinted his eyes at him. Ignoring how warm his face felt, he spoke up, “H-Hey, you’re the cute one!”

Or maybe, he should’ve just left his mouth shut because now, he couldn’t stop, “Y-You were sleeping there and, and y-you’re the cute one!”

Just like the other times, Jeremy expected Michael to answer back, but what he was met with was a red-faced Michael. A very shocked, red-faced Michael Mell. The tanned teen shook his head at Jeremy, “Wh-Wh—“

“And, and you look really soft and it doesn’t make sense. K-Kind of like a kid? A-And kids are cute, and you are too. But not in a kid way?” Jeremy wanted to hide. Why in the world was he word vomiting? He blamed Michael. Word vomiting was his thing.

Jeremy was still blabbering about when the teen beside him suddenly wore his hood and covered his face, “Stop. I’m not. Why are you attacking me? Dude, c’mon. Spare me. Jeremy Heere.”

And that? That made Jeremy laugh. His face didn’t feel as warm, and the loud pounding in his chest slowly died down as he did, “I’m not attacking y-you, what the fuck, Michael?”

“You were. Don’t ever use the C-word at me!”

“ _C-word_???”

“Yeah! That only works for you and puppies a-and shut up,dude!”

“I-I’m not saying anything!”

A few seconds passed before the two burst out into laughter. The best part was that Jeremy felt calm and nice and warm. He didn’t feel panicked or confused.

And that was an amazing feeling.

Michael was inches close, but he didn’t feel like running away. Michael was laughing, and Jeremy was laughing along with him, all the while being aware of his feelings minus being terrified and awkward. Jeremy’s never had a crush in real life before, and one thing for sure, it was downright intoxicating.

Michael Mell was making him feel multiple feelings all in a span of hours. Jeremy was definitely going to, as Christine said, “die of feelings.”

Michael’s text notification tone was what brought the two back to reality.

Jeremy watched the teen take a look at the text then let out a sigh. He flashed Jeremy an apologetic look, “I’m going to have to go, dude. My friend fucked up big time. I’m going to lose my shit if anything happens to my place.”

Soon, he was standing up, giving Jeremy’s head a pat. Jeremy tried not to be too sad. They were going to see each other when school starts. Gosh, he was being so lame.

Suddenly, Michael let out an “oh!”

“Heck, you ordered, didn’t you? Oh dude, I can pay you back for dinner,” Michael had said this, pulling his wallet out. Quickly, Jeremy stopped him, “No, no, no. Stop, it’s okay. My dad can have your share, it won’t be a waste, I promise!”

Pouting, Michael placed his wallet back. He let out a soft hum, then faced Jeremy with a smile, “How about I repay you back with dinner?”

Jeremy was taken aback by the sudden offer. One, did Michael just ask him out? And two, that was the most cliché movie line ever Jeremy wasn’t sure if he wanted to laugh or cry, or even call Michael out on it. There was a few seconds of silence before Michael suddenly spoke up again, confidence suddenly drained out from his face that was turning into a raging shade of red, “Wow. That was a cheesy line, wow. B-But what I—just, like, let’s eat out? One night? L-Like, I can treat you to food as compensation to this meal we were supposed to have as of this moment, but I’m—“

He was such a dweeb, Jeremy couldn’t help but smile, “I think that’d be cool, Michael.”

Michael blinked at him. He then smiled so widely, Jeremy felt his own smile get bigger too, “Cool. Cool, yeah. Okay, nice. That’s. You’re a cool bean, Jeremy Heere.”

The pale teen snorted, “Y-You’re really lame.”

“ _Take that back_.”

* * *

The small Asian girl let out a very loud squeal, hugging Jeremy’s pillow even tighter, “He called you _adorbs_.”

Jeremy had let out a groan at that, his face getting warm at the memory of it. He and his best friend were currently lying down on his bed, side-to-side, and staring at the ceiling.

They had just finished off eating dinner with his dad, and now they were squeaky clean, wearing comfy PJs while Hello Mellow’s first album played in the background through Jeremy’s Bluetooth speaker because honestly, it wouldn’t be a sleepover with Christine Canigula without it.

Even if Jeremy couldn’t exactly see Chrissy, he could feel that she was smiling widely. Her energy was strong and contagious, it was honestly impressive.

There was a few seconds of silence before the brunet let himself speak again.

“Do you think it’s weird?”

“Having a crush?”

The lanky teen shrugged lightly, “Liking someone so quickly?”

The girl had let out a hum at that, letting it prolong for a moment before answering, “Not really. We can’t really control who we like, Jere.”

Christine suddenly rolled to her side, facing Jeremy, “Or you don’t know, maybe you liked him in a different life! Or, maybe you already liked him long before you knew him. Destiny!”

A snort was the male teen’s response, “That’s so gross, Chrissy.”

The two had burst out into laughter at that.

Once the laughter’s died down, the two let themselves lie down, basking in comfortable silence. This was the best thing about being friends with Christine, Jeremy thought. He’s never been this comfortable with anyone else aside from her. It was a nice thought, being able to have her like this in his life. He considered himself lucky.

“You’re allowed to like who you like, okay? I’m with you through it. If he hurts you, he better catch these hands.” Jeremy turned his head slightly to find his friend looking at him.

Even though what was said sounded like a joke, Christine was smiling at Jeremy so softly, he couldn’t help but mirror.

Christine then broke eye contact, facing the ceiling again, “Michael’s nicknames for his callers are so weird, though! Sbarro enthusiast and bi-rinski, was it?”

Jeremy hummed in agreement, “Right? The bi-rinski one was really terrifying. He even threatened to throw Michael’s X-Box!”

More giggles erupted from Christine, “That’s honestly really funny. They’re like shit-post versions of—”

Then, there was a pause. Chrissy suddenly sat up. A bit shocked, Jeremy sat up as well, taking a peek at Christine whose expression was a mix of confusion and surprise.

“Chrissy? Y-You okay?”

Blinking a bit, Christine turned her attention back to Jeremy, “Does Michael remind you of anyone?”

Tilting his head, Jeremy let himself think for a few moments before shrugging to himself, “Not really? Why? What’s up?”

The female teen shook her head to herself, humming softly, “Maybe it’s just me. Weird.”

Jeremy was about to ask when Christine suddenly grabbed at her phone. The male teen watched her as she typed a few, and blinked at her phone’s screen. Curiosity flooding Jeremy’s system, he leaned close to take a peek as well to find her on Jakey-D’s twitter. Jeremy wasn’t sure about what she was looking at though. They were just a bunch of tweets.

“You okay?”

Christine tilted her head, humming even more. She then shook her head then lied back down.

“Weird.”

When Jeremy was about to ask, she suddenly started another topic about alien abductions. As confused as Jeremy was, he chose not to pry and agreed that they were totally real.

* * *

As promised to Christine’s mom, Christine was up and ready by 8 am when she got picked up.

By then, considering it was a weekend, Jeremy was sure his dad was still fast asleep which is why he took it upon himself to prepare some breakfast.

It was nearly 9 am when Jeremy was greeted by a big yawn and a “good morning, son!” from his father. At that time, he was nearly finished cooking. The taller man wore a baby blue robe with its ropes tied safely on his stomach, to Jeremy’s luck.

“Hey, dad. Chrissy left already.”

“Yeah, I noticed, son. You two were pretty quiet last night.” Heere let out another yawn as he sat down on the chair, taking in the scent of newly made pancakes, “Well, not really. I still heard you but you weren’t screaming like usual.” He then flashed his son a big, dopey grin at that.

The teen rolled his eyes, but returned the smile, nonetheless, as he glanced at the man, “We don’t always scream.”

“Uh-huh.”

As Jeremy finally finished, he placed the last cooking piece on the already-made stack on the table.

He placed the pan back on top of the stove then proceeded to sit on the vacant chair across his dad’s seat. Jeremy was about to take a piece when his father suddenly spoke out again.

“Oh, but I see you’ve found a new screaming buddy!”

Jeremy choked on his spit.

“Wh-What???”

The older man merely grinned in response, “That Michael boy! You should bring him here more often,” he then paused, “Well, maybe not too much. I don’t want my scary father image to stop taking effect. Your current friends don’t even try to be scared anymore.”

At the mention of Michael’s name, Jeremy’s whole being started feeling warm. Memories of last night—singing Hello Mellow jams with Michael, Michael’s sleeping face, Michael calling him adorbs—flowed back into his mind. His chest had started pounding so hard, he had to clutch at it, feeling as though it’ll burst even though that was impossible. Or maybe it was? He shook his head. Not the point.

Christ. Being with Christine helped his mind get distracted from Michael and his realization that he actually had a massive crush on the dude–so massive it actually surpassed his feelings for his all-time, big idol crush, Mellow from Hello Mellow. Jeremy tried his best not to cringe at that description his mind just pulled up—

 

“..y? Jeremy???”

 

The pale teen blinked to himself, facing his dad with wide eyes. His father stared back at him with worried eyes, “You okay, son? Did I say anything wrong? You spaced out. I can stop the scary dad act if you want?”

Jeremy couldn’t help but blink once more in hopes the whatever mess that was currently in his head would disappear. The teen then let out a nervous laugh, shaking his head, “N-No, dad. It’s all cool. Just remembered something.” He then took a deep breath and let out a very slow exhale. The memory of Michael’s terrified face when he met his father suddenly flashed in his head, making him let out a snort, “I think you can keep the scary dad act, though.”

The father grinned brightly as a response, “Nice.”

* * *

Jeremy was back in his room after 40 minutes or so of chatting with his father. Even though he tried his best to listen well, Michael Mell was still invading his _everything_.

  
With a sigh, he sat down on his bed, grabbing his phone that was laid down near him. He had 4 new messages from Christine.

 **chrissy:** im home!!!!!! thank u for last night :’D

 **chrissy:** but oh yah there was something bothering me since like

 **chrissy:** it might sound super weird but????Everything’s super connected???? : <

 **chrissy:** hmu!!! good morning by the way!!!!!!!

Jeremy couldn’t help but smile at the series of messages. He really loves Christine Canigula.

 **jeremy:** good morning as well!! I should be the one thanking u, u kno :--( but hey what’s up??

Letting out another sigh, the teen lied down on his bed. He closed his eyes for a moment. He didn’t have anything to do the whole day. Maybe he could just take a nap so he didn’t have to think about anything. That’d be nice, really. Letting his brain and heart rest. Also, he slept late last night and woke up pretty darn early.

With a huff, he’s decided. He’s going to spend the whole Saturday catching on some Z’s, then he could just do his homework tomorrow. Okay, that’s the plan—

 

_"Oh, it goes waka-waka_

_Everything seemed more than okay_

_Because waka-waka_

_Is the best the way to start the day!"_

 

That was his call ring tone. Christine probably got his message. Without checking the caller ID, Jeremy answered with a quick, “Hey.”

“ _O-Oh, dude, did you just wake up?_ ”

That. That wasn’t Christine’s voice. Jeremy sat up abruptly in shock, fucking up his head for a moment, but he still pushed himself to answer.

“M-Michael??? H-Hi! H-Hey! What’s g-going on, man?”

_Smooth, Jeremy. Very smooth._

It took every ounce of Jeremy’s being to keep himself from letting out a groan at his greeting. He wanted to just hide under his comforter and forget ever existing when laughter suddenly filled his ear. It was Michael’s laugh–the loud, contagious one. Jeremy could feel the corners of his lips lifting at the sound of it.

  
“ _Man, I don’t know how you could be that energetic in the morning. It’s pretty amazing_.”

  
“N-No,” Jeremy shook his head to himself as he started to feel his chest pounding, “Y-You just surprised me. Wh-What’s up?”

Yikes, his voice was shaking. Michael’s definitely going to think he’s weird. Jeremy closed his eyes, waiting for the response to come but it never came.

He opened his eyes and checked to see if he was still connected to the call. He was. Maybe it was just bad connection? Bad signal?

“M-Michael, you there?”

Jeremy heard an exhale through the line, “ _S-S-So, y-you know a-about like—”_

The pale teen blinked to himself.

“Mi—”

“ _You know how I sorta just ran out last night because of my dumbass roommates that almost burned down my house? Yeah, just. I mean, I had to run because I didn’t really want to go home with fire. I don’t know how they even started it with a microwave? I mean? That’s the weirdest shit—_ ”

  
“Y-Yeah?”

  
“ _—but that’s not the point. There’s a point to this, and I assure you I will get there soon but holy fuck, my mouth is just— I’m pretty nervous._ ”

  
Jeremy let out a snort. His chest wasn’t even beating fast anymore. It was just drowned in the warmest feeling, it was almost addicting. He couldn’t help but smile to himself, “Y-You’re such a dork.”

  
“ _Hey. I’m doing my best here._ ”

“Alright, alright. G-Go on, I’m listening.”

“ _I owe you dinner. Do you wanna go out tonight? My treat?_ ”

  
Michael’s voice, at that, was low. Almost like he sounded unsure. It also sounded hopeful at the same time, making Jeremy’s everything warm and giddy all over.

 

“Yeah, Michael. That’d be cool.”

“ _O-Oh. Cool. S-Seven? I’ll pick you up?”_

“Alright, alright. I-I’ll ask my dad, but I’m sure he’ll say yes. Y-You gotta greet him, too, though.”

“ _Okay, but dude,”_

“Y-Yeah?”

“ _I-I think I’m scared of your dad_.”

 

With that, Jeremy burst out into laughter.

Guess he wasn’t going to catch some Z’s today.

 

 

 


End file.
